Policy and Legislation

President Biden says the U.S. will soon be vaccinating 1.5 million people a day.

This week's top stories include President Biden appointing new coronavirus czar Jeffrey Zients as head of the White House's COVID-19 response team and Micky Tripathi as head of National Coordinator for Health IT.

One data-driven response requires the heads of all executive departments and agencies to share COVID-19 data with the coronavirus czar.

The state's nurses union urges Congress to pass President Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan.

The move is the first sign of future healthcare policy changes, given Biden's promises to reform the industry.

As National Coordinator for Health IT, the interoperability veteran will bring deep standards expertise as the rubber hits the road on nationwide API-based data exchange.

HHS is encouraging all relief fund recipients who have received aggregate payments exceeding $10,000 to establish a reporting account.

Biden is expected to issue a national mask mandate and create an office of COVID-19 response, headed by the new coronavirus czar.

Rule requiring payers to implement APIs for data sharing and to streamline prior authorization is "half-baked," AHIP says.

This earlier release of the rate announcement will help MA and Part D plans better plan for 2022 plan costs, CMS says.