Our Newsroom
America’s Essential Hospitals welcomes media inquiries about the association, its members, and policymaking that affects health care for vulnerable people. We can provide a national perspective on Medicaid and Medicare, the nation’s health care safety net, hospital quality improvement, research on care for the underserved, health care disparities, reform, and other topics.
Our staff experts are ready and able to answer your questions. We also can work with you to arrange interviews with leaders at our member hospitals and health systems. Let us help give your report a human face and local perspective.
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Media Contact
Carl Graziano
Senior Director of Communications
cgraziano@essentialhospitals.org
202.585.0102
Statement on U.S. District Court Ruling Overturning Affordable Care Act
Dec 14, 2018 ||This profoundly troubling decision threatens to leave millions of Americans — including many with pre-existing conditions — little hope for affordable health care coverage and financial stability.
view more »Statement on Final Rule for 340B Ceiling Price Transparency
Nov 29, 2018 ||We welcome today’s decision by the Department of Health and Human Services to respond to our lawsuit by issuing a final rule for enforcing 340B Drug Pricing Program ceiling price transparency and civil monetary penalties starting Jan. 1, 2019.
view more »New Online Library Helps Hospitals Talk to Patients about Care Costs
Nov 27, 2018 ||America’s Essential Hospitals today published a new online library of guides, videos, infographics, and other tools to help essential hospitals and clinicians talk with vulnerable patients about the cost of care and to incorporate these conversations into the clinical workflow.
view more »Statement on 2019 Outpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule
Nov 2, 2018 ||The rule undermines stability and choice for vulnerable patients by continuing to cut critical funding to hospitals serving people who face barriers to care.
view more »Statement on 340B Drug Pricing Program Proposed Rule on Ceiling Price and Civil Monetary Penalties
Oct 31, 2018 ||We are pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services has responded to our lawsuit with other national organizations by proposing a Jan. 1, 2019, effective and compliance date for 340B Drug Pricing Program enforcement.
view more »Public Charge Proposal Would Jeopardize Care for Millions, Drive up Costs
Sep 23, 2018 ||By creating a strong disincentive to seek care, this rule would force people to forgo medical visits and medications until they are sicker and costlier to treat.
view more »Statement on 340B Stewardship Principles
Sep 18, 2018 ||The American Hospital Association’s good stewardship principles for the 340B Drug Pricing Program demonstrate and affirm the hospital community’s commitment to accountability and transparency for this vital program.
view more »Hospital Groups File Lawsuit to Shine Needed Light on Drug Company Pricing and Overcharging
Sep 11, 2018 ||America’s Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and 340B Health filed their lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
view more »Hospital Groups Continue Fight, Refile Lawsuit to Reverse Cuts for 340B Hospitals
Sep 5, 2018 ||America’s Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, and the Association of American Medical Colleges, along with three hospital plaintiffs, refiled our lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to reverse Medicare cuts to 340B hospitals.
view more »Research Project to Give Hospitals Tools for Building Patient Trust
Aug 6, 2018 ||With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Essential Hospitals Institute will research best practices for building patient trust in hospitals that fill a safety-net role.
view more »America’s Essential Hospitals Website, Video Projects Win Industry Awards
Aug 3, 2018 ||America’s Essential Hospitals won two gold awards and an honorable mention in the 2018 dotCOMM Awards for excellence in web creativity and digital communication.
view more »Statement on 2019 Outpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule
Jul 25, 2018 ||The rule would make bad policies worse, impose draconian new cuts that jeopardize access to care, and undermine the foundation of the nation’s health care safety net.
view more »Hospital Groups to Continue Fight to Reverse Cuts for 340B Hospitals
Jul 17, 2018 ||The American Hospital Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, and America’s Essential Hospitals expressed disappointment that the courts once again failed to rule on merits of the 340B case and vowed to continue the fight to reverse these unwarranted cuts.
view more »Project Provides Road Map to Person-Centered Care, Evidence-Based Research for Vulnerable Patients
Jul 12, 2018 ||New research from America’s Essential Hospitals provides a road map to integrate person-centered care and evidence-based research into hospital care for vulnerable patients.
view more »America’s Essential Hospitals Announces New Board Leadership
Jul 1, 2018 ||New member leaders for America’s Essential Hospitals and its research and quality arm, Essential Hospitals Institute take office July 1.
view more »Hospital Association Honors Four Members for Quality, Population Health
Jun 21, 2018 ||The Gage Awards honor creative and successful programs at essential hospitals that enhance patient care and meet community needs.
view more »America’s Essential Hospitals Picks Veteran Advocate to Lead Capitol Hill Efforts
Jun 21, 2018 ||Cleveland Clinic government affairs chief Carlos Jackson will join the association as its new vice president of legislative affairs and oversee the organization’s Capitol Hill work.
view more »New Data Show Essential Hospitals’ Commitment to Mission Amid Resource Challenges
Jun 19, 2018 ||The annual report from America’s Essential Hospitals shows the association’s members provided disproportionate levels of uncompensated care, charity care, and physician training in 2016.
view more »Project ACHIEVE Study Identifies Desired Care Transition Outcomes
Jun 14, 2018 ||Research, led by the University of Kentucky and supported by Essential Hospitals Institute, found that outcomes most important to patients and families are preparedness, accountability, and feeling cared for by providers.
view more »Statement on CMS Decision to Postpone Hospital Star Ratings
Jun 12, 2018 ||The agency says postponing the July release will allow additional time to analyze the impact of changes to some measures.
view more »Statement on Rep. Matsui Introduction of SERV Communities Act
Jun 12, 2018 ||The bill would bring relief to essential hospitals and their patients from damaging Medicare outpatient payment cuts and much-needed accountability for manufacturers in the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
view more »HRSA Should Revisit Delay of 340B Rule
Jun 1, 2018 ||The delay enables manufacturer overcharges that jeopardize access to affordable drugs for vulnerable patients and drive up costs for hospitals.
view more »End Delay of 340B Program Ceiling Price, Civil Monetary Penalties Rule
May 4, 2018 ||The decision to delay rules to safeguard patients and hospitals from drug company overcharges is unacceptable and undermines the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
view more »Hospitals to Get New Tools for Discussing Cost of Care with Vulnerable Patients
May 2, 2018 ||America’s Essential Hospitals this week kicks off a year-long project to equip hospitals with education and tools to support conversations with vulnerable patients about the cost of health care. The project is funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
view more »Statement on President’s FY 2019 Proposed Budget
Feb 12, 2018 ||The nation’s safety net cannot sustain the dramatic cuts in this proposal to Medicare, Medicaid, and other social programs on which low-income working Americans and their families depend.
view more »Budget Deal Is Welcome Relief for Vulnerable Patients, Essential Hospitals
Feb 9, 2018 ||Congress made the right choice this morning for patients and communities by voting to halt damaging cuts to hospitals that care for low-income working families and others who face financial challenges.
view more »Essential Hospitals Laud Medicaid DSH Cut Delay in Funding Bill
Feb 5, 2018 ||America’s Essential Hospitals praises lawmakers for including a two-year delay of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payment cuts in the latest proposal to fund the federal government.
view more »75 Groups Urge Congress to Extend Vital Health Care Programs, Policies
Jan 29, 2018 ||The groups called for swift action on seven programs and policies lawmakers left out of a Jan. 19 continuing resolution that funds the government through Feb. 8 and that extended the Children’s Health Insurance Program by six years.
view more »Statement on Avalere Analysis of 340B Payment Policy in 2018 OPPS
Jan 29, 2018 ||This badly misleading report makes no attempt to focus on or isolate the 340B drug payment policy. Rather, it masks the policy’s damaging impact by conflating it with other unrelated policy changes.
view more »Senate Must Finish Work to Protect Care for Low-Income Patients
Jan 18, 2018 ||We commend the House for funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program, but regret lawmakers chose not to extend the same support to hospitals at the center of our health care safety net.
view more »Congress Must Act This Week on Medicaid DSH Cut Delay
Jan 17, 2018 ||The harm from disproportionate share hospital cuts is imminent, but not unavoidable. Congress must act immediately to stop the cuts in its next government funding measure.
view more »Hospital Leaders Call on Congress to Halt Cuts to Safety Net
Jan 10, 2018 ||The chief executives of 18 of the nation’s largest hospital systems that care for low-income patients asked congressional leaders for a two-year delay of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payment cuts.
view more »Essential Hospitals Launch Campaign to Delay Medicaid DSH Cuts
Jan 8, 2018 ||The association is using Capitol Hill advocacy, member mobilization, and advertising to halt current disproportionate share hospital (DSH) cuts and delay further cuts for at least two years.
view more »Hospital Groups to Continue to Pursue Lawsuit to Reverse Cuts for 340B Hospitals
Dec 29, 2017 ||District court judge finds that the lawsuit was premature, but he does not rule on the merits of the claim by America’s Essential Hospitals, the American Hospital Association, and the Association of American Medical Colleges.
view more »Statement on Congressional Inaction on Medicaid DSH Cuts
Dec 21, 2017 ||Hospitals cannot sustain these losses without scaling back services or closing altogether, especially as the ranks of the uninsured swell with the end of the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. Congress must immediately halt the cuts when lawmakers return in January.
view more »Congress: Reject Tax Reforms that Harm Patients, Hospitals
Dec 5, 2017 ||The House and Senate tax reform bills would destabilize hospitals that care for those who face financial hardships by triggering deep cuts to social programs.
view more »Statement on Bipartisan Legislation to Stop Cuts to 340B Hospitals
Nov 15, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals thanks Reps. David McKinley (R-WV) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) for legislation that would place a permanent moratorium on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services policy to cut $1.6 billion in Medicare Part B drug reimbursement from 340B hospitals.
view more »Hospital Groups File Lawsuit to Stop Significant Payment Cuts for 340B Hospitals
Nov 13, 2017 ||The lawsuit argues that the 340B provisions of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ outpatient prospective payment system rule violate the Social Security Act and should be set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act as unlawful and in excess of the HHS Secretary’s statutory authority.
view more »Statement on House Passage of CHIP Reauthorization, Medicaid DSH Cuts Delay
Nov 3, 2017 ||The vote moves us a step closer to protecting funding for hospitals that care for uninsured and underinsured patients and to preserving access to care for our nation’s children. America’s Essential Hospitals now calls on the Senate to act in bipartisan fashion to do the same.
view more »Statement on 2018 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule
Nov 2, 2017 ||The final rule puts expansion of services further out of reach for underserved communities and threatens access to care where access is needed most.
view more »Statement on 2018 Outpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule
Nov 1, 2017 ||The final rule’s cuts to Medicare Part B drug payments to 340B hospitals jeopardizes health care access for millions of low-income individuals and families nationwide and weakens the ability of essential hospitals to provide vital services to communities.
view more »Statement on House Measure to Delay Medicaid DSH Cuts
Oct 30, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals thanks House leaders for supporting vulnerable patients and essential hospitals with a proposed two-year delay of Medicaid disproportionate share hospital funding cuts.
view more »Statement on Alexander-Murray Bipartisan Health Care Bill
Oct 23, 2017 ||The end of cost-sharing reduction subsidies poses an imminent threat to those who depend on marketplace plans. America’s Essential Hospitals thanks Sens. Alexander and Murray for their bipartisan leadership to create more certainty in the individual market.
view more »Statement on Administration Decision to End Cost-Sharing Reduction Payments
Oct 13, 2017 ||Ending the government’s cost-sharing subsidies to insurers in the Affordable Care Act marketplace won’t fix the law’s shortcomings or move us closer to a workable alternative. It only will destabilize the insurance market and drive costs higher for patients who can least afford increases.
view more »Association Thanks Lawmakers for Support of Medicaid DSH Cuts Delay
Oct 5, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals appreciates the one-year delay of cuts to disproportionate share hospital payments and will continue to work with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for a two-year delay to provide greater stability for hospitals and more time to find a long-term fix.
view more »Statement on Energy and Commerce Mark-Up of the HEALTHY KIDS Act
Oct 3, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals applauds the HEALTHY KIDS Act for extending the Children’s Health Insurance Program but remains concerned the bill’s disproportionate share hospital provision will make it harder to find a sustainable solution to uncompensated care.
view more »More than 220 Bipartisan Lawmakers Call for Medicaid DSH Cut Delay
Sep 28, 2017 ||The signers of the letter to Ryan and Pelosi include 162 Democrats and 59 Republicans from 41 states. They also include five House committee chairs and 13 committee ranking members.
view more »Statement on Senate’s Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson Decision
Sep 26, 2017 ||We hope the Senate’s decision to stop the rush to a vote on the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson proposal opens the door to renewed bipartisan talks on ways to fix the Affordable Care Act.
view more »Statement on Graham-Cassidy Health Plan Proposal
Sep 15, 2017 ||The proposal appears to significantly restrict federal health care funding through per-capita caps and block grants; shift costs to states, patients, providers, and taxpayers; and achieve the same result as earlier bills: millions left uninsured.
view more »Essential Hospital Leaders Call on Congress to Stop Medicaid DSH Cuts
Sep 13, 2017 ||In a letter to House and Senate committees, leaders of more than 250 hospitals and health systems nationally urge Congress to stop a $2 billion disproportionate share hospital cut scheduled for Oct. 1 and to delay cuts for at least two years.
view more »Statement on CMS Decision to Cancel Cardiac Episode Payment Models
Aug 15, 2017 ||The association says providers selected for the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) demonstration are only just now adapting to the new payment and delivery approaches and need more time before facing another demonstration.
view more »Statement on Senate Rejection of Health Care Freedom Act
Jul 28, 2017 ||With the Senate defeat of the repeal bill, America’s Essential Hospitals urges lawmakers to turn their attention to averting Oct. 1 cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments and to renewing their commitment to CHIP and other elements of the safety net.
view more »Statement on Senate ‘Skinny’ ACA Repeal Legislation
Jul 27, 2017 ||Estimates are the skinny option would cause 16 million people to lose coverage and drive up uncompensated care at hospitals.
view more »Statement on Senate Vote To Move Forward with ACA Repeal Legislation
Jul 25, 2017 ||All plans considered so far by Congress would end with the same terrible result: at least 22 million more uninsured people, devastating cuts to Medicaid, and higher costs for patients and taxpayers.
view more »Statement on Senate Plan to Repeal ACA with Two-Year Delay
Jul 18, 2017 ||The repeal-and-delay strategy would leave millions of lives in limbo and create uncertainty that would destabilize insurance markets and paralyze hospitals.
view more »Statement on OPPS, Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rules
Jul 13, 2017 ||The Medicare payment rules propose deeply damaging policies that would harm vulnerable patients and essential hospitals by cutting 340B Drug Pricing Program savings and needed support for outpatient services in underserved communities.
view more »Statement on Revised Better Care Reconciliation Act
Jul 13, 2017 ||The revised Better Care Reconciliation Act leaves untouched the most destructive provisions of the original bill: those that would gut the Medicaid program and strip affordable coverage from millions of people.
view more »America’s Essential Hospitals Announces New Board Leadership
Jul 1, 2017 ||New member leaders for America’s Essential Hospitals and its research and quality arm, Essential Hospitals Institute, today officially began their new roles overseeing the organizations’ work.
view more »Statement on CBO Score of the Better Care Reconciliation Act
Jun 26, 2017 ||The Congressional Budget Office score of the Senate’s Better Care Reconciliation Act confirms what most observers expected: The bill is as damaging as its deeply unpopular House counterpart, the American Health Care Act.
view more »Hospital Association Recognizes Five Members for Quality, Population Health
Jun 22, 2017 ||The Gage Awards honor creative and successful programs at essential hospitals that enhance patient care and meet community needs.
view more »Statement on Senate Repeal and Replace Legislation
Jun 22, 2017 ||Senate leaders have put ideology ahead of lives with a plan that puts health and home at risk for millions of working Americans.
view more »America’s Essential Hospitals Promotes Legislation to Reduce Disparities
Jun 13, 2017 ||The Eliminating Health Disparities Act of 2017, introduced in April by Rep. Ben Ray Luján, would allow states to apply for Medicaid state plan amendments to establish a Health Disparities Elimination Program.
view more »Statement on the Administration’s Fiscal 2018 Budget Proposal
May 23, 2017 ||The budget proposal would harm the people who need help most: low-income working Americans, struggling families, the poor elderly and disabled, and millions of others.
view more »Statement on House Passage of the American Health Care Act
May 4, 2017 ||The bill the House approved today would leave tens of millions of Americans uninsured and reduce benefits and increase costs for millions more – including the sick.
view more »Statement on American Health Care Act High-Risk Pool Amendment
May 3, 2017 ||The amendment to increase funding for American Health Care Act high-risk pools applies a bandage to a mortally wounded patient and changes in no material way the harm this bill would cause.
view more »America’s Essential Hospitals Applauds Bill to Remedy Physician Shortages
May 2, 2017 ||The bipartisan Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act supports our nation’s teaching hospitals and the next generation of health care professionals.
view more »Statement on American Health Care Act Amendment
Apr 26, 2017 ||Attempts to revive the American Health Care Act with changes that make a deeply damaging bill even worse are misguided and disappointing.
view more »Statement on FY 2018 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule
Apr 14, 2017 ||Association calls the fiscal year 2018 Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule a welcome first step toward broader recognition in federal health policy of challenges that affect the health of vulnerable patients.
view more »Statement on House Decision to Withdraw American Health Care Act
Mar 24, 2017 ||Congressional leaders made the right choice today to withdraw their legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. With health care coverage for tens of millions of Americans in the balance, this was a sound decision.
view more »Statement on Proposal to End Essential Benefits Requirements Under AHCA
Mar 22, 2017 ||House Republican leaders are putting the health of millions of Americans at greater risk with each change they make to placate party holdouts and pass the American Health Care Act.
view more »Statement on Administration’s FY 2018 Budget Proposal
Mar 16, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals says the cumulative effect of the proposal and the American Health Care Act could be to undermine the ability of essential hospitals to meet their commitment to patients and communities.
view more »Statement on Confirmation of Seema Verma as CMS Administrator
Mar 14, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals recognizes the new CMS administrator for her experience with health care for low-income and other vulnerable people and helping states tailor Medicaid to meet specific program and policy goals.
view more »Statement on CBO Score of American Health Care Act
Mar 13, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals says the Congressional Budget Office analysis of coverage losses under the American Health Care Act underscores the urgent need for Congress to rethink its strategy on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
view more »Statement on House Reconciliation Legislation
Mar 6, 2017 ||While the House bill would bring welcome relief from damaging cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments, the association remains deeply concerned about provisions to end Medicaid expansion and impose per-capita caps on the program.
view more »America’s Essential Hospitals Launches Second Phase of Population Health Work
Feb 27, 2017 ||The project will support essential hospitals in building a foundation for population health improvement activities, assembling and aligning needed resources, and achieving community-integrated health care.
view more »Statement on Draft Republican Plan to Replace the Affordable Care Act
Feb 16, 2017 ||Today’s reports of a draft policy brief describing how House Republicans would replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) raise significant concerns about whether the plan could protect the health of low-income and other struggling Americans.
view more »Statement on Confirmation of Health and Human Services Secretary
Feb 10, 2017 ||America’s Essential Hospitals tells the newly confirmed Secretary Price that it looks forward to working with him to ensure essential hospitals can sustain their commitment to vulnerable patients and underserved communities.
view more »Essential Hospitals Face Significant Losses Without Comparable ACA Replacement
Feb 9, 2017 ||If Congress fails to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with a comparable plan, coverage losses and scheduled cuts to hospital funding would total up to $40.5 billion nationally for hospitals that fill a safety-net role, a new analysis shows.
view more »Research Project To Explore PCOR/CER in Essential Hospitals
Feb 2, 2017 ||The 18-month project of the association’s Essential Hospitals Institute will explore whether and to what extent hospitals use patient-centered outcomes and comparative effectiveness research to improve care delivery.
view more »Statement on Withdrawal of 340B Mega-Guidance
Jan 31, 2017 ||The decision preserves the 340B program’s valuable benefits to low-income and other disadvantaged people, and the hospitals on which they depend.
view more »Response to Administration Plan To Fund Medicaid with Block Grants
Jan 23, 2017 ||We welcome a constructive discussion about how to improve Medicaid without jeopardizing access to health care services for vulnerable people. But proposals to convert Medicaid to block grants so far fail to cross even this basic threshold.
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