The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium and School-Based Health Alliance have created a resource, “Addressing Diabetes Factors in Elementary School Children Through School and Community Partnerships.” Health centers can play a powerful role in performing appropriate screening, prevention and management of elementary-aged children with obesity and other pre-diabetic indicators by collaborating with schools and other community partners.

Axios reports that America is more racially diverse than at any point in history, and racial minorities are becoming more geographically dispersed than ever before. Nationally, Hispanics and Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial minority groups, increasing by 18.6% and 27.4%, respectively, between 2010 and 2018, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution demographer Bill Frey, whose 2018 book “Diversity Explosion” outlined the country’s majority-minority future. Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, Dallas, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Seattle registered substantial growth in their black populations. The nation’s white population has grown only 0.1% since 2010 and is projected to decline over the next decade. Read more.

Keep up to date on the creation and rollout of Pennsylvania’s state-based health insurance exchange on the Department of Insurance’s State-Based Exchange webpage. Pennsylvania has been a federally facilitated marketplace or exchange since 2013. For the 2020 enrollment period, Pennsylvania has moved to a state-based exchange (SBE) using the federal platform (SBE-FP) and will fully transition to a SBE in 2021. For 2020, this will allow Pennsylvanians to continue to choose plans and enroll into the marketplace using Healthcare.gov, but the state is responsible for performing all marketplace functions for the individual market and the Small Business Health Insurance Options Program (SHOP).

Later in September, Pennsylvania will recognize “Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now Week” by making free Naloxone available at 95 location across the state. The free Naloxone will be available on two days while supplies last: Wednesday, Sept. 18, from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm, and Wednesday, Sept. 25, from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm.  Click here for a list of the locations.  Other commonwealth opioid use disorder activities and progress:

• Through a standing order, Naloxone, used to reverse an overdose caused by an opioid by blocking the effects of opioids on the brain, is available to any Pennsylvanian through pharmacies across the commonwealth for anyone who may need it
• According to the state Department of Health, more than 25,000 people have been revived with Naloxone by police officers and EMS providers in Pennsylvania since November 2014
• In December 2018, the commonwealth distributed over 5,000 naloxone kits across Pennsylvania
• Gov. Wolf announced in August that opioid related overdose deaths have decreased by 18 percent over the past 12 months
• Gov. Wolf this week announced another renewal of the state opioid disaster declaration, the seventh one since he first made the declaration on Jan. 10, 2018

Technical Assistance for Hospitals Applying to the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model—a CMMI-Sponsored Rural Hospital Global Budget Model – Rural hospitals, interested in participating in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, participated in a rapid cycle process to develop plans to transition from being volume-oriented to focusing on community health, facilitated by a global budget. This brief summarizes Rural Health Value’s process to facilitate hospital development of a transition plan for those considering developing or participating in a global budget or other transformation models for rural hospitals.

See document here.