Articles
Legislation and Legislative Advocacy, Infrastructure, Leadership, Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19)
Perspective: Critical Infrastructure Legislation Must Include Hospitals
By Rick Pollack
When Congress returns to Washington, D.C., on Monday, lawmakers’ attention will turn to one of the largest infrastructure spending packages in our nation’s history.
COVID-19: Vaccines and Therapeutics, Leadership
Perspective: Building Vaccine Confidence
By Rick Pollack
As more vaccine supplies become available and more jurisdictions expand priority categories or do away with them altogether, hospitals and health systems continue to work overtime to serve as access points.
Medicare, Leadership, Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19)
Perspective: The Wrong Time to Cut Medicare Provider Payments
By Rick Pollack
The incredible job that hospitals and caregivers have done over the past year saving lives, treating very sick patients and protecting their communities has been acknowledged and enabled by Congress through relief aid several times since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health Insurance, Leadership
Perspective: Increasing Health Plan Accountability to Benefit Patients
By Rick Pollack
Patients should expect that any drugs or medications they require are safe, administered effectively and available when needed. But, some commercial health insurance companies are changing the rules about how drugs are handled and administered, with serious consequences for patient care.
AHA Physician Alliance, AONL, COVID-19: Caring for Patients and Communities
Perspective: Supporting and Thanking the Physicians and Nurses on the Front Lines
By Rick Pollack
1.5 million people. That’s the approximate number of people that hospitals and health systems have treated for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. To put that in perspective, that would mean filling Chicago’s Soldier Field to capacity 24 times.
Price Transparency, Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19), Leadership, Cost Management
RAND’s solutions for lowering health care costs are ineffective and potentially harmful
By Rick Pollack
A recent report from RAND misses the mark on solutions to the cost of health care and draws its conclusions from the same recycled and incomplete studies.
Leadership
AHA Rebuttal to ‘Overcoming the Market Dominance of Hospitals’
By Rick Pollack
A recent JAMA article, recycles old and tired arguments about hospital consolidation without any examination of the impact of consolidation in the commercial health insurance industry or related health care sectors that promise to have a profound impact on the cost, quality and accessibility of health care for consumers.
Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19), COVID-19: Caring for Patients and Communities, Leadership
Perspective: Voices from the Front Lines Make the Case for COVID-19 Relief
By Rick Pollack
For the last few weeks, we’ve used this space to highlight the need for the next COVID-19 relief package to provide hospitals and health systems with additional resources and support so they can continue to care for patients and protect communities.
Leadership, Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19), COVID-19: Caring for Patients and Communities
Perspective: Making Our Voices Heard on COVID-19 Relief Legislation
By Rick Pollack
Congress returns to Washington, D.C., next week, and its top focus will be passing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief legislation.
Leadership, Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19), COVID-19: Caring for Patients and Communities, COVID-19: Vaccines and Therapeutics
Perspective: Boosting our Efforts to Vaccinate America
By Rick Pollack
The nation’s COVID-19 vaccination effort continues to have challenges, and we are committed to working with all stakeholders to make it as effective as possible to protect our patients and communities.