The final rule for the fiscal year 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System will undermine the nation’s essential hospitals and safety net care for low-income and marginalized patients with its harmful policies on disproportionate share hospital funding.

We are pleased the administration proposes lump-sum reimbursements to hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program to remedy years of unlawful cuts to Medicare outpatient drug payments.

America’s Essential Hospitals and its research, education, and leadership development arm, Essential Hospitals Institute, today announced new board chairs and members, who will begin their roles guiding the organizations’ work July 1.

America’s Essential Hospitals recognized four member hospitals for outstanding work to improve health care quality and population health.

The project, supported by a grant from CVS Health Foundation, will continue through March 2024 and fits within a framework of association initiatives to combat structural racism and promote equity.

The Fellows Program, established in 1987, provides strategic leadership and advocacy training to help member hospitals develop and inspire the next generation of essential hospital leaders.

We joined other national hospital groups to urge the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to keep in place pending appeal an Affordable Care Act requirement that most health plans cover certain preventive services without cost sharing.

As Congress and the administration work to protect the nation’s fiscal health and the well-being of its people, we call on policymakers to preserve and strengthen access to health care for low-income and marginalized populations.

We thank House lawmakers for their bipartisan leadership to protect patients, communities, and our nation’s safety net with legislation, the Supporting Safety Net Hospitals Act, that would avert disastrous cuts to essential hospitals.

The administration's decision to expand Medicaid and Affordable Care Act coverage to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients marks an important step toward ensuring this marginalized group has access to vital health care services.

Essential hospitals appreciate the proposed rule's provisions on equity and defining safety net hospitals but are concerned about a proposed $200 million reduction to Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments and a lackluster base payment rate increase.

Hospital and pharmacist advocates for safety net health care and affordable prescription drugs are united in their firm opposition to a misguided effort by the drug industry and some community health centers that would restrict access to the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

The commission’s Medicare safety net index methodology fails to account for all the nation’s safety net hospitals by overlooking uncompensated care and care provided to non-Medicare, low-income patients — especially Medicaid beneficiaries.

America’s Essential Hospitals today welcomed its fourth and largest class to a novel program that aims to decrease gender disparities in hospital leadership by building on the knowledge and skills of rising women executives.

The decision by the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit allows drug companies to continue their unconscionable and harmful restrictions on 340B discounts for drugs dispensed through contract pharmacies and jeopardizes access to lifesaving medications for disadvantaged patients.

The project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, dovetails with work at America’s Essential Hospitals to combat structural racism. It also will contribute to the association’s response to the ongoing hospital workforce crisis.

We are disappointed the district court gave the Department of Health and Human Services discretion in how to remediate the department’s unlawful payment cuts for 340B hospitals.

We thank congressional negotiators for supporting essential hospitals and their communities by agreeing to shore up the health care workforce, expand access to mental health and substance use disorder services, and extend flexibility for alternative care settings.

The project will support a learning collaborative of essential hospitals seeking to increase access to office-based addiction treatment (OBAT).

Even small investments by hospitals in climate resiliency and climate change mitigation can yield meaningful results and pave the way for further work.

The new data on essential hospitals comes in the association’s annual snapshot of its members, Essential Data: Our Hospitals, Our Patients.

A dozen award-winning hospital programs to improve quality, population health, and combat COVID-19 are featured in a new illustrated guide from America’s Essential Hospitals. 

The Inflation Reduction Act preserves access to affordable health care coverage and takes historic steps to fight climate change but it falls short of providing the support essential hospitals need as front-line providers during public health crises.

By extending ACA subsidies, the legislation would safeguard access to care for millions of individuals and families — a critically important outcome, given the ongoing threat of COVID-19 and the emergence of monkeypox.

CMS' intention to fully restore payments for 340B-acquired drugs takes an important step toward reversing the damage caused by years of cuts the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously found unlawful.

Twenty-nine rising leaders from 18 essential hospitals will explore population health, diversity and inclusion, policymaking, and other issues central to care for low-income and marginalized patients.

New leaders for America’s Essential Hospitals and its research, education, and dissemination arm, Essential Hospitals Institute, today begin their roles.

The bill, which would improve gun safety and expand access to mental health services, offers hope to health care workers, who face increased personal risk as caregivers often on the front lines of workplace violence.

We are concerned about how today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision might affect access to care and maternal health, especially among low-income and marginalized people, and the ability of providers to deliver care without fear of possible criminalization.

America’s Essential Hospitals awarded Gage Awards to seven hospitals for quality improvement projects, population health initiatives, and COVID-19 response.

We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed with us that the Department of Health and Human Services’ outpatient payment cuts to hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program were unlawful.

We mourn the terrible loss of life in Uvalde, Texas, and join others in the health care community in an urgent call for action to improve gun safety and reduce gun violence as necessary measures to protect public health.

We welcome the focus on improving equity in today’s FY 2023 IPPS proposed rule, including in proposals related to climate change and maternal health.

Egwim brings extensive experience to his new role, and we look forward to working with him to protect the access to affordable drugs the 340B Drug Pricing Program creates for low-income patients.

Essential hospitals continue to confront extreme labor costs and staff shortages and need targeted relief from remaining fund dollars and new sources of support.

America’s Essential Hospitals has selected Jason Pray, a health care policy professional with more than 24 years of experience in Washington, D.C., as its next vice president of legislative affairs.

A new learning collaborative, funded by CVS Health Foundation, and guided by Essential Hospitals Institute will support ongoing work at 12 essential hospitals to reduce morbidity and mortality among Black pregnant and birthing patients and foster sharing of results and best practices.

Over 12 months, the project will provide technical support to the grant recipients and collect data on how their innovations affect cardiovascular disease patients in their communities.

While essential hospitals support the bill's goals to expand health care coverage and strengthen the health care workforce, they cannot accept the damaging cuts it would make to funding for hospitals that care for low-income patients and underserved communities.

We support the Biden administration’s vaccination goals, including for health care workers as they lead our nation’s response to COVID-19. The interim final rule from CMS aligns with our commitment to vaccination as the best way to protect patients and keep caregivers safe.

By maintaining harmful cuts to outpatient drug payments for hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and for services at hospital outpatient clinics, the 2022 Outpatient Prospective Payment System final rule jeopardizes safety net care.