- How the State, Tribes and Federal Government Are Working to Curb SD's Syphilis Epidemic
- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- USDA Rural Development Seeks Input to Improve Access to Grants and Help More Communities Thrive
- Outlining the Intersection between Health Care and Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces Critical More Than $1.5 Billion State and Tribal Opioid Response Funding Opportunities
- RPHARM Program Fulfills Need for Rural Pharmacists
- Farmers Don't Do Mental Health
- A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
- Rural Telehealth Extension Reintroduced in Congress
- Students From Across the State Emphasized the Need for Mental Health Resources in Rural Alaska During a Conference
- The South Was the Center of Rural Population Growth Last Year
- How HHS SUD Confidentiality Regulations Will Impact Rural Providers
- VA Announces Expansion of "Close to Me" Cancer Program as Part of the Cancer Moonshot, Bringing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Closer to Thousands of Veterans
- Navajo Psychiatrist Bridges Gaps Between Native American Culture and Behavioral Health Care
- Biden-Harris Administration Releases National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and First-Ever Federal Action Plan
USDA Rural Placement Innovation Challenge
Starting September 10th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will make five awards from a total investment of $1 million to assist with community planning efforts that support local economies and quality of life. Uses for funds include increasing broadband access, preserving cultural and historical structures, and supporting the development of transportation, housing, and recreational spaces. Eligible applicants are public and private entities that can provide technical assistance to cities or towns with up to 50,000 residents.
HHS Invests in Diagnostic Labs to Expand COVID-19 Testing Capacity in the United States
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced combined investments of $6.5 million in two commercial diagnostic laboratories to expand capacity to conduct up to 4 million additional SARS-CoV-2 tests per month. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. The investments in Aegis Sciences Corporation and in Sonic Healthcare USA will provide critical laboratory equipment supplied by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Thermo Fisher Scientific and increase staffing and infrastructure to allow the U.S. to perform an additional 1 million tests each week by early October.
Representative Balderson Plans to Introduce the Rural Equal Aid Act
Representative Troy Balderson plans to introduce the bipartisan Rural Equal Aid Act in the House of Representatives, aimed at supporting USDA loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, Senators Tester and Romney introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate. This legislation would subsidize payments on loans made under certain rural development loan programs, similar to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans given to urban businesses. The bill would
Americorps State Program: Opioid Outreach and Education Positions
The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC) has an Americorps State Program grant and is seeking health centers throughout Pennsylvania to participate as host sites for Americorps members. The focus of these positions will be to build outreach and education programs targeted at fighting the opioid epidemic in your communities. For more information or questions, please contact Amy Williams, PACHC Program Specialist for Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorder.
Save the Dates: Virtual Primary Care Career Fairs
The Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center will host two statewide virtual career fairs this October. Put these dates on your calendar and look for more details soon.
- Oct. 8 – Medical and Dental Professions
- Oct. 27 – Behavioral Health Professions
Contact Ama Dekyi, Recruitment Coordinator, PA Primary Care Career Center for more details.
Study Finds Racial Bias in COVID-19 Hospital Aid
The federal government has systematically shortchanged communities with large Black populations in the distribution of billions of dollars in COVID-19 relief aid meant to help hospitals struggling to manage the effects of the pandemic. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the funding inequities resulted from a formula that allocated large chunks of a $175 billion relief package based on hospital revenue, instead of numbers of COVID-19 cases or other health data. Read more.
Lessons Learned in School Reopening
As countries consider back-to-school strategies for the fall, a coronavirus outbreak at a Jerusalem high school offers a cautionary tale. Confident it had beaten the coronavirus and desperate to reboot a devastated economy, the Israeli government invited the entire student body back in late May. Within days, infections were reported at a Jerusalem high school, which quickly mushroomed into the largest outbreak in a single school in Israel, possibly the world. Read more.
Long-Term COVID Complications Could Cost Billions
With mounting evidence that some COVID-19 survivors face months, or possibly years, of debilitating complications, health care experts are beginning to study possible long-term costs. Bruce Lee, M.D., of the City University of New York estimated that if 20 percent of the U.S. population contracts the virus, the one-year post-hospitalization costs would be at least $50 billion, before factoring in longer-term care for lingering health problems. Read more.
Guidance: Sliding Coinsurance for CMS/Medicare Care Management Services
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), a HRSA-funded national training and technical assistance partner (NTTAP), shares this publication, Guidance: Sliding Coinsurance for CMS/Medicare Care Management Services, to assist health centers with managing the relationship between CMS/Medicare care management services and sliding fee policies. While health centers are required to enforce Medicare coinsurance for CMS/Medicare care management services, the coinsurance may be “slid” in accordance with the health center’s sliding fee discount program (SFDP) policy. Federal anti-kickback statutes and beneficiary inducement prohibitions include exceptions allowing health centers to discount coinsurance for patients who are eligible for the health center’s sliding fee discount program without violating Medicare rules.
Provider Relief Fund: Applications Being Accepted Until Aug. 28
HHS announced that eligible providers have another opportunity to submit their application for the Provider Relief Fund. Examples of eligible Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP/dental providers include:
- Providers who did not receive an initial payment that totals approximately two percent of their annual patient revenue
- Providers who did receive an initial payment but missed the June 3 deadline to submit their revenue information
- Providers who were ineligible for prior General Distribution funds due to a change in ownership or because they did not have Medicare fee-for-service revenue in 2019
- Providers who previously received Phase 1 General Distribution payment(s) but rejected and returned the funds and are now interested in reapplying
All eligible providers will only receive funding of up to two percent of their reported total revenue from patient care. The deadline for applying for funds is Aug. 28, 2020. For the latest information on the Provider Relief Fund Program, visit: hhs.gov/providerrelief. The full press release, can be found here. Questions? Contact Julie Korick, PACHC COO/CFO.