AHA Press Releases

In what is becoming an all too familiar pattern, the RAND Corporation’s latest hospital price report oversells and underwhelms. Their analysis — which despite much heralded data expansions — still represents less than 2% of overall hospital spending. This offers a skewed and incomplete picture of hospital spending.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) today released a new report showing that hospitals and health systems continue to experience significant financial pressures that challenge their ability to provide 24/7 care for the patients and communities they serve.

The AHA welcomed the bipartisan scrutiny of the Change Healthcare cyberattack. Today’s hearings highlighted the real-world impact the most significant cyberattack to face the health care sector has had on so many patients, hospitals and health systems and other care providers nationwide. 

he American Hospital Association (AHA) today announced that five exemplary programs have earned the AHA Dick Davidson NOVA Award for their hospital-led collaborative efforts that improve community health. The winning programs are the Resourceful program, Essentia Health, Duluth, Minn.; Beyond Violence, John Muir Health, Walnut Creek, Calif.; UH Food for Life Markets®, University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio; TC Street Medicine, Munson Healthcare, Traverse City, Mich.; and Forensic Health and Trauma Recovery Center Services, Palomar Health, Escondido, Calif.

For all of the reasons the AHA explained in its comment letter, the FTC’s final rule banning non-compete agreements for all employees across all sectors of the economy is bad law, bad policy, and a clear sign of an agency run amok. The agency’s stubborn insistence on issuing this sweeping rule — despite mountains of contrary legal precedent and evidence about its adverse impacts on the health care markets — is further proof that the agency has little regard for its place in our constitutional order. 

The AHA appreciates that CMS acknowledges the critical role hospitals play in state Medicaid financing and the importance of supplemental payments to sustain beneficiary access to care in light of low Medicaid base payment rates, including rates paid through managed care organizations. I

The AHA strongly believes that a skilled, caring workforce is integral to delivery of high quality, safe care. Yet, the process of safely staffing any health care facility is about much more than achieving an arbitrary number set by regulation.

The Administration’s final rule for the 340B drug pricing program administrative dispute resolution (ADR) process is an important step in ensuring the integrity of the 340B program. The final rule contains several important process improvements, including a clear timeline for when ADR decisions must be made and an opportunity for reconsideration when parties are dissatisfied with the initial ADR decision.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) today presented two federal hospital leaders with awards recognizing their outstanding service to the health care field. These awards recognize uniformed and non-uniformed federal health care leaders who have distinguished themselves through singularly significant or innovative achievements and leadership that have contributed substantially to the mission of the federal health system.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) today announced that Steven Summer, the former president of the Colorado and West Virginia Hospital Associations, will be awarded AHA’s 2024 Board of Trustees Award. Summer is currently the president and CEO of the Healthcare Institute. The Board of Trustees Award is presented to individuals or groups who have made substantial and noteworthy contributions to the work of the AHA on behalf of the hospital field.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) today announced that Christina Campos, CEO of Guadalupe County Hospital in Santa Rosa, N.M., will be awarded its 2024 Board of Trustees Award. The Board of Trustees Award is presented to individuals or groups who have made substantial and noteworthy contributions to the work of the AHA on behalf of the hospital field.

CMS’ proposed inpatient hospital payment update of 2.6% is woefully inadequate, especially following years of high inflation and rising costs for labor, drugs, and equipment. Many hospitals across the country, especially those in rural and underserved communities, continue to operate under unsustainable negative or break-even margins.

Learn about Ken Kaufman, the recipient of the prestigious AHA Award of Honor, for his contributions to the health and well-being of our nation.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) will present its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, to Nancy Howell Agee, CEO of Carilion Clinic, a not-for-profit integrated health system serving more than 1 million people in Virginia and West Virginia. Agee will receive the 2024 award during a ceremony on April 15 at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) will present its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, to Brian Gragnolati, president and CEO of Atlantic Health System, an integrated system with 20,000 team members serving more than half the state of New Jersey. Gragnolati will receive the 2024 award during a ceremony on April 15 at the AHA Annual Membership Meeting in Washington, D.C.

We welcome today’s letter from the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Labor that recognizes the unprecedented nature of the Change Healthcare cyberattack and its far-reaching impacts on hospitals, physicians and the health care sector.

We appreciate the information that UnitedHealth Group has laid out regarding an aspirational timeline of potential technical relief for this historic cyberattack on the U.S. health care system. However, nothing in the announcement materially changes the chronic cash flow implications and uncertainty that our nation’s hospitals and physicians are experiencing as a result.

The Change Healthcare cyberattack is the most significant and consequential incident of its kind against the U.S. health care system in history.

America’s hospitals and health systems are dedicated to protecting their patients and workforce against cyber attacks that can disrupt patient care and erode privacy by the loss of personal health care data.

Rick PollackPresident and CEOAmerican Hospital Association