(October 2024) – The American Hospital Association recently convened the final Regional Policy Board meeting for 2024. The event occurred in St. Louis and brought together hospital leaders from Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. As always, the AHA staff sets a full agenda to discuss current and future hospital and health care issues. To kick off the meeting, the AHA team provides a thorough and up-to-date briefing on the latest federal legislative and regulatory environment. While most attention is focused on the Nov. 5 general elections, AHA has already started strategizing on the advocacy priorities that will top the agenda for the upcoming "lame duck" session. The advocacy agenda will include several key initiatives, such as protecting against site-neutral payments, extending the Medicare-Dependent Hospital /Low-Volume Hospital programs, avoiding Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital cuts and holding commercial insurance plans accountable. As expected, the upcoming elections will also influence Congress's priorities. The Kansas Hospital Association team will collaborate with our AHA colleagues to ensure we are aligned in speaking with a unified voice.
Most Regional Policy Board meetings focused on the health care workforce, including physician impact and projections. Recent reports from the Association of American Medical Colleges indicate the U.S. may have a shortage of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. This shortage could be even more significant, up to 202,800, if historically underserved communities had fewer health care access barriers. Another factor that is impacting the physician workforce is reimbursement. From 2001 to 2024, the Medicare physician payment has decreased by 29 percent. Several physician workforce solutions were explored by the RPB attendees that ranged from the expansion of digital health and AI to ensuring other health care professionals are permitted to practice at the top of their license.
Additional topics discussed during the RPB meeting included Enhancing Public Trust and Confidence, Impact of the SCOTUS Rulings: Beyond Chevron, Coalition to Strengthen America's Healthcare and Member Accountability. Regarding the last topic, AHA is developing an "internal self-assessment tool for public trust and accountability" to help hospitals better understand their "blind spots" and areas of strength. Once finalized, this comprehensive tool will be placed on the AHA website for member hospitals to access.