- Senator Baldwin Introduces HSHS Act to Protect Communities from Hospital Closures
- What to Know about Smoke, Heat and Health
- Tribal Partnership With UW-Madison Combines Ag Research With Indigenous Food Knowledge
- The Rewards of Working as Rural Docs
- Request for Information (RFI): Evolving the Network of the National Library of Medicine
- Dental Therapists, Who Can Fill Cavities and Check Teeth, Get the OK in More States
- Colorectal Cancer Is Rising among Younger Adults. Some States Want to Boost Awareness.
- Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust
- Food Stamps Go Further in Rural Areas — Until You Add Transportation Costs
- CMS Announces Resources and Flexibilities to Assist with the Public Health Emergency in the State of Texas
- CMS Proposes New Payments for Digital Health Under CY2025 PFS Draft Rule
- Improving Public Health by Strengthening Community Infrastructure
- Biden Harris Administration Proposes Policies to Reduce Maternal Mortality, Advance Health Equity, and Support Underserved Communities
- Nearly Half of U.S. Counties Don't Have a Single Cardiologist
- Randolph County, Ill. Turns Unused Part of Nursing Home Into State-Of-The-Art Behavioral Health Center
Senate Confirms President Biden’s ASH and Surgeon General Nominees
The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Dr. Rachel Levine as the HHS Assistant Secretary of Health (ASH). She is the first openly transgender federal official ever confirmed by the Senate. In a Daily Yonder op-ed, Brock Slabach, NRHA Senior Vice President of Member Services, explained that, “[Dr. Levine] helped enact a new system for stabilizing revenue for rural hospitals. She’s the right person to serve as [the HHS ASH].” Additionally, the Senate voted 57-43 to confirm Dr. Vivek Murthy as Surgeon General, who previously served as Surgeon General in the Obama Administration.
Reps. Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) Introduce the Rural Behavioral Health Access Act
Representatives Dan Kildee (D-MI) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) announced the introduction of their bipartisan bill: The Rural Behavioral Health Access Act. This legislation would ensure that Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) retain important flexibility to provide behavioral health services through telehealth after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. NRHA had the opportunity to host the introduction event for this important piece of legislation yesterday. You can watch the recording of the event featuring Representatives Kildee and Wenstrup here, and you can find the bill one-pager here and the full legislative text here.
Senate Passes Medicare Sequestration Relief and RHC Technical Corrections
The Senate passed H.R. 1868, a bill to provide continued relief from Medicare sequestration and technical corrections to the rural health clinics (RHC) provisions included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021. The measure must go back to the House of Representatives before becoming law due to changes in the text regarding Medicare sequestration. NRHA anticipates the House will take the measure up when they return from recess on April 12, 2021. CMS has said they will not proceed with actions contradictory to the pending legislation in the meantime.
HHS: Health Disparities by Race/Ethnicity During the Pandemic
HHS released a report with existing data on rates for infection, hospitalization, death, and vaccination by race and ethnicity. The brief discusses the drivers of these disparities and offers policy recommendations for achieving health equity.
President Biden Issues New Vaccination Goal
President Biden has doubled the administration’s vaccination goal for the first 100 days in office from 100 million to 200 million doses. This follows the administration meeting the initial goal of 100 million doses after just 58 days in office. About 2.5 million doses are being issued in the U.S. every day.
CMS Releases Updates on RHC Payments
CMS released this memo on the implementation of updated RHC rates as included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA). The ‘base rate’ for PB RHCs will be the 2020 interim rate if the MAC does not have a final settled cost report. This indicates that the final base rate will be from the final settled 2020 cost report. CMS goes on to say that they plan to discuss more about rates and processes in the 2022 physician fee schedule rule. NRHA will pass along updated information as it becomes available.
AHRQ Toolkit for Managing Sepsis Care
The Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ) created this resource specifically for rural clinicians. The toolkit includes case scenarios, templates, and checklists to improve the quality and safety of managing sepsis, a potentially life-threatening infection.
NIHB Legislative and Policy Agenda for Indian Health
The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is a non-profit organization focusing on health care priorities for American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes. This annual report lists issue areas ranging from COVID-19 response to telehealth capacity to water and sanitation infrastructure.
CDC: Urban-Rural Differences in Drug Overdose Death Rates, 1999-2019
A new brief from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports on a higher rate of overdose deaths due to heroin and cocaine in urban areas. In rural areas, however, overdose rates were higher for natural and semisynthetic opioids, synthetic opioids (excluding methadone), and psychostimulants with abuse potential.
New: Coverage to Care Telehealth Resources
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released two new resources to support the use of telehealth. The first educates patients on what to expect during a telehealth visit, and the second supports providers in how to conduct a successful telehealth visit and how to keep up to date on Medicare and Medicaid telehealth payments. Social media graphics are also available.