AHA Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC

June 24,

Tom Nickels Executive Vice President American Hospital Association June 19, 2019

The American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Institute for Diversity and Health Equity today announced that Anne Arundel Medical Center, Annapolis, Md., will receive the 2019 Carolyn Boone Lewis Equity of Care (EOC) Award. The award recognizes hospitals and health systems for their efforts to reduce health care inequities, and advance diversity and inclusion. In addition, Atrium Health, Charlotte, N.C.; Northwell Health, New Hyde Park, N.Y.; Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Ill.; and Sutter Health, Sacramento, Calif., will be recognized as honorees.

America’s hospitals and health systems applaud today’s Supreme Court decision finding that the Department of Health and Human Services violated the Medicare Act when it changed Medicare's reimbursement formula for disproportionate share hospitals without providing notice and opportunity to comment.

Hospitals and health systems value all individuals they have the opportunity to serve, and oppose discrimination against patients based on characteristics such as race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity. We have serious concerns that this proposal could weaken important non-discrimination protections, and will be evaluating its impact on the health delivery system. While we are carefully reviewing the proposed rule, our core value of providing service to all will continue to guide our care for patients and our commitment to treat all with dignity and respect.

 

New analysis prepared by Ernst & Young LLP (EY) and released today by the American Hospital Association (AHA) shows that tax-exempt hospitals provided $95 billion in total benefits to their communities in 2016 alone, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available. This means that hospitals’ and health systems’ community benefit activity outweighs the value of their federal tax exemption – which was $9 billion in 2016 – by a factor of nearly 11 to one. 

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We have a number of concerns about the report released today by RAND Corp. Most notably the authors themselves point out that the study’s key limitation is its small sample size – less than 5 percent of all covered persons in about half of all states, and just 2 percent of the 181 million Americans with employer-sponsored insurance nationally.

America’s hospitals and health systems are fully committed to protecting patients from unanticipated medical bills that they may incur because of unexpected gaps in their health coverage or as a result of medical emergencies.

Robert Pear was a giant of journalism. A story with Robert’s name in the byline was a must-read for all the policy world. And yet, for all of his achievements – including writing more than 6,700 articles in The New York Times – the outpouring of memories and tributes make clear that his talent and tenacity as a reporter were surpassed only by his compassion.