Congress last week passed aid for the Ukraine war effort but remains stalled on a $10 billion COVID-19 funding bill. A group of three House caucuses of Black, Hispanic, and Asian Pacific American lawmakers have introduced health equity legislation.

In a new white paper, America's Essential Hospitals discusses essential hospitals' role in value-based payment models and makes recommendations to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation on improving equity through broader model participation.

The Senate this week will consider a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown the day before the fiscal year ends. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asks committee chairs to draft revised COVID-19 legislation as she reopens negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on COVID-19 relief.

In a Sept. 25 letter to Congress, America’s Essential Hospitals urged lawmakers to include policies that bolster the health care safety net as part of legislative efforts to help rectify the unconscionable health inequities among vulnerable populations across the country.

In this second report on the topic, the agency describes three findings: there is no systematic or standard collection of social risk data; dual enrollment in Medicare and Medicaid remains a predictor of poor outcomes; and there are limited efforts to identify effective and scalable interventions.

America’s Essential Hospitals expressed concern that changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could increase food insecurity and worsen health outcomes.

In a July 9 letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, America’s Essential Hospitals expressed concern that changes to federal housing assistance eligibility requirements could increase housing instability and worsen health outcomes.

The report is the last in a series of five by an ad hoc committee focused on social risk factors that affect the health outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries.

The legislation, expected to quickly receive the president's signature, includes two key advocacy goals for the association: risk adjustment of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and partial relief from hospital outpatient department payment cuts.

This is the fourth of five reports from an ad hoc committee to identify social risk factors affecting health outcomes of Medicare beneficiaries.

Material note association concerns about, and help members prepare for, April 21 public release of Hospital Compare star ratings.