Legal/Regulatory Issues The Guardian on Friday published devastating reporting about the state of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The headline: “Inside the CDC’s leadership vacuum: work at a ‘standstill’ and low morale as 80% of top posts remain vacant.” The well-sourced article describes CDC as “in a state of…
The Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA) expressed its opposition to proposed legislation in Michigan that it says would be “catastrophic” to the state’s ASCs if enacted. The Michigan Health & Hospital Association also expressed its opposition to the bill from the perspective of hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). Michigan HB 5770, introduced last…
U.S. News & World Report has interviewed American Nurses Association President Jennifer Mensik Kennedy PhD, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN. The interview provides a solid overview of the issues that are currently impacting the nursing profession. Those issues include proposed changes to the U.S. Department of Education’s “professional degree” definitions that include…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday released guidance that, according to the American Hospital Association (AHA), describes limits to Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for “certain noncitizens.” AHA stated the guidance involves the implementation of a provision within last July’s federal reconciliation bill…
CBS News Philadelphia reports that a former surgical technician at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, N.J., has been charged with stealing $2.5 million in medical supplies, according to a county prosecutor. After a six-month criminal investigation that remains active, Marci M. Staub was charged with theft, receiving stolen property, distribution…
U.S. Reps. John B. Larson (D-CT) and Beth Van Duyne (R-TX) last week introduced the bipartisan Outpatient Surgery Access Act of 2026, which intends to lower surgery costs at ASCs for seniors on Medicare. “Outdated Medicare policies are limiting access to high-quality and lower-cost care,” said Rep. Van Duyne. “Our…
Tennessee newspaper The Daily Times reports that Prisma Health is “one approval away” from constructing a 129,000-square-foot outpatient surgery center on land near the Royal Oaks subdivision in Maryville, Tenn., after the city’s Planning Commission approved a rezoning and land use reclassification request last week. The commissioners are consider rezoning an…
The Hartford Courant reports that an unclothed patient under anesthesia for outpatient surgery at Yale New Haven Health Bridgeport Hospital was allegedly photographed by a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) in the surgical suite, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court. Even more alarmingly, the patient allegedly wasn’t even under…
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) reports that some rural hospitals in the state are suffering from a “Medicare billing snafu” that is “generating steep financial hardships” for the already struggling facilities. The report says hospital leaders have been “vexed by a recent payment processing change” by CMS that is “effectively holding…
A blog post by health policy, consulting, and lobbying firm McDermott+ dives into the recently released annual report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the nonpartisan independent legislative branch agency that provides the U.S. Congress with analysis and policy advice on the Medicare program -- with a particular focus on…
