Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it would make the adoption of health information technology a major priority in 2013. The agency also noted that the adoption rate of electronic health record systems tripled to 44 percent over the last three years.

In the March issue of Sleep Review, an article by AASM Sr. Health Policy and Government Affairs Analyst Ted Thurn provides an overview of the Affordable Care Act. The article gives sleep professionals a broad analysis of key provisions in the ACA including the individual mandate, health insurance excise tax, and State Exchanges. Members also can find answers to frequently asked questions about State Exchanges on the AASM website.

Hospitals that participate in the Medicare portion of the federal electronic health record (EHR) incentive payment program could lose thousands of dollars in payments as a result of the 2 percent cut to Medicare reimbursements under sequestration.

Last week, President Obama signed an order to initiate $85 billion in spending cuts under sequestration for the fiscal year. The mandated cuts are the first installment of nearly $1 trillion in across-the-board reductions, including a 2 percent reduction to Medicare reimbursement rates.

The Obama administration recently released more than 700 pages of new regulations to implement various aspects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The rules cover the ACA's health insurance exchanges and new standards and reforms to the insurance market, such as encouraging cost-sharing, stabilizing health insurance premiums and blocking insurers from denying coverage.

CMS recently issued a detailed timeline that outlines the steps they will take to implement the health insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act between now and October 1.

Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that 25 states will be awarded nearly $300 million for a state innovation program that will help states design and test new multi-payer payment and delivery models for their Medicaid and CHIP programs.

The directors of NIH's 27 institutes and centers will be charged with determining how to distribute cuts under sequestration, should they take effect, announced NIH Director Francis Collins.

The health care industry is bracing itself for some of the $85 billion in automatic spending cuts scheduled to take effect March 1, as a deal to avert the sequester remains out of reach. The automatic cuts involve nearly $1 trillion in across-the-board reductions, including a 2 percent reduction to Medicare reimbursement rates.

The AASM would like to thank our members who donated to the AASM Political Action Committee (AASM PAC) at the Winter Course