The City Health Dashboard, an online resource for viewing and comparing data from multiple sources on health and factors that affect health in hundreds of U.S. cities, is inviting cities with populations under 50,000 to compete for the opportunity to be added to the dashboard. Read More
A new federal law, the No Surprises Act, is intended to protect patients from surprise medical bills. In a guest column for Talk Business & Politics, ACHI Health Policy Director Craig Wilson discusses what surprise medical billing is and how the law aims to prevent it. Read More
In the latest installment of his column in the Healthcare Journal of Arkansas, ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened our nation’s previously existing mental health and opioid crises. Read More
Under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), Arkansas has the option to extend postpartum coverage under Medicaid from 60 days, the minimum required by federal law, to 12 months beginning on April 1, 2022. Read More
On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard, pending further review before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Read More
New guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) ensures that individuals in employer-sponsored or individual market health plans will be protected from cost-sharing for completion of colorectal cancer screening through a colonoscopy after a positive screen from a non-invasive, stool-based test or direct visualization. DOL included the guidance in an FAQ issued Jan. 10 that also delineated a requirement that insurers pay for at-home COVID testing. Read More
A new federal law, the No Surprises Act, seeks to protect patients from surprise medical bills. In an interview Tuesday with KATV, ACHI Health Policy Director Craig Wilson explained what surprise billing is and how the law is supposed to work. Read More
Many of us are committing to health behaviors in the new year, including engaging in more physical activity. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has been devastating for gyms, with an estimated 25”’30% closing since the beginning of the pandemic. Read More
The Arkansas Department of Human Services announced Jan. 3. that adult enrollees ages 21 and older in the fee-for-service Medicaid program are now allowed up to six prescriptions per month without prior authorization — a change that took effect on the first of the year, pursuant to Arkansas Act 758 of 2021. Read More
Telemedicine utilization among Medicare beneficiaries was 30 times higher during the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the 12 months preceding the pandemic, according to a recent report released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Read More
