- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- 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
- Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don't Meet Them.
- Rural Communities Face Primary Care Physician Shortage
Kids Who Lost a Parent to COVID-19 May Qualify for Coverage
COVID-19 has claimed more than 600,000 lives in the U.S., and researchers estimate in JAMA Pediatrics that translates into more than 46,000 kids who have lost a parent. What surviving parents might not know is that children can receive survivor benefits when a parent dies if that parent worked long enough in a job that required payment of Social Security taxes. Only about half of the 2 million children in the U.S. who have lost a parent as of 2014 received the Social Security benefits to which they were entitled, according to a 2019 analysis by David Weaver of the Congressional Budget Office. Counselors said they find many families have no idea that children qualify for benefits when a working parent dies or don’t know how to sign up.
DOH Updates Vaccine Dashboard to Better Reflect Race, Ethnicity Data
Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam announced the COVID-19 Vaccine Dashboard is now updated to better reflect the race and ethnicity of Pennsylvanians receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in the 66 counties outside of Philadelphia. The update to the dashboard can be found on the second page of the COVID-19 vaccine dashboard showing a county-specific view of demographics for people vaccinated by race, ethnicity, gender and age; it also includes a county ranking of the percent of residents in a given county that have received their vaccine. The demographic detail page was launched in late April. Until this week, the percentages displayed factored in the population of Philadelphia County. However, because Philadelphia County is designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a separate vaccine jurisdiction, the Department of Health’s data does not include information on people vaccinated in Philadelphia. The demographic information will help identify any equity gaps in vaccine distribution so that DOH can work closely with trusted local partners and stakeholders to create and share information for those who may be hesitant about receiving the vaccine.
Vaccine Survey Discontinued
The Department of Health (DOH) notified providers that providers will no longer be able to request vaccines through the Weekly Vaccine Request Survey. All providers who want vaccines will be required to place orders for Pfizer (450 or 1170), Moderna, or Janssen directly into PA SIIS. The DOH team will review those orders and approve them daily for processing. Once orders are approved, providers will receive a confirmation email from PA SIIS/VTrcks. As a part of this transition, routine allocation letters will no longer be sent out from the DOH resource account. Providers will be able to check the status of shipment by logging in directly to PA SIIS. Providers may place orders more than once per week based on need. If providers run into any problems while placing the order and need support, please email the DOH resource account at ra-dhcovidvax@pa.gov or call DOH at 717-787-5681.
Vaccination Decisions Have Consequences
A new analysis from the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics finds that more than 46,000 children under 18 in the U.S. lost a parent to COVID-19. Although overall cases are down because of the many individuals who have been vaccinated, the pandemic is not over. The Delta variant that has devastated India and caused a significant rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the U.K. is on the rise in the U.S. Delta variant cases have doubled in the U.S. in the past two weeks, are surging in states with low vaccination rates, and now represent 20.6 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases. Studies are showing that those of us who are vaccinated are protected from this more aggressive, highly contagious variant. If you’re not vaccinated, please know that the risk to you and those you love remains. The choice is yours, as are the consequences of not taking action to prevent what is now truly a preventable illness. If you don’t get vaccinated for you, please consider doing so for those you love and who love you.
Rural Community Health Initiative Best Practices Compendium
Through the Rural Community Health Initiative, the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) aims to support and promote innovative community health programs in rural areas. As part of this initiative, NRHA is producing a compendium of best community health practices in rural communities. NRHA encourages Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Community-Based Division grantees (including network, planning, outreach, and rural communities opioid response) to complete the submission form for inclusion in NRHA’s compendium of best practices by June 18. This compendium will help share resources with key rural stakeholders across the country, providing accessible and creative practices to rural communities and their health care providers.
NRHA Releases New Toolkit to Help Rural Stakeholders Increase Rural Vaccine Confidence and Uptake
Vaccinating rural communities to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic is no simple task and the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) understands the unique issues and viewpoints you face as a rural health stakeholder leading the way. Although many resources are currently available, we know materials focused for rural audiences will be most effective in reaching our communities. Because of this, NRHA has curated tools to assist you immediately and allow you to easily distribute and co-brand by adding your organization’s logo. Our resource library includes conversation starters and public service announcements developed in partnership with the COVID Collaborative, Health Action Alliance, and the Ad Council that can help rural employers, small business owners and public sector employers share vaccine facts and improve vaccination access for employees and families.
Bipartisan Group of Senators Reach Deal on Infrastructure Framework
A bipartisan group of Senators announced they had reached a deal on the framework of an infrastructure package with the White House. President Biden endorsed the plan. However, House Democrats and some Senate Democrats are skeptical the deal will reach 60 votes in the Senate. The deal, as announced, totals roughly $1.2 trillion over eight years and includes $579 billion in new spending. Thus far, at least 11 Senate Republicans have agreed to back this plan. While the bipartisan group continues to sell the ‘physical’ infrastructure plan, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) continues crafting the ‘human’ infrastructure plan outlined by the President as the “American Families Plan.” President Biden, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) hope to pass both bills simultaneously. NRHA will continue to monitor developments on these packages and provide updates to members each week. In the meantime, NRHA continues to advocate that relief for rural providers needs to be included in any infrastructure plan on Capitol Hill. You can find NRHA’s letter to Congressional leadership here.
New Payment Opportunity for RHCs and FQHCs under the DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program
HRSA is accepting applications for payment from rural health clinics (RHC) and federally qualified health centers (FQHC) employing buprenorphine waivered providers under a new program, the DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program. RHCs and FQHCs have the opportunity to apply for a $3,000 payment for each eligible employed provider who attained a Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) waiver on or after January 1, 2019. The program is conducted in collaboration with SAMHSA. Waivers are issued by SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) and its Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ) maintains the verified waivered practitioner database. There is no deadline to apply for this payment program, but available funds are limited and will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis. The Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, Section 6083, made $6 million available to FQHCs and $2 million available to RHCs under the DATA 2000 Waiver Training Payment Program. HRSA will accept applications for payment and process payments until all available funds are exhausted.
Dental Access Study in Health Centers
A newly released study examines the role of dentist supply, need for care, and long-term continuity in HRSA-funded health centers in the United States. What it found was that even a small increase in dental workforce resulted in greater access to dental care among health center patients. Increases of 0.5 or 1.0 full-time employees could lead to a 5–10 percent increase in possible dental visits. Expansion of the dental workforce and infrastructure is important to increasing access to and use of oral health care. You can also read other articles about quality care delivered by health centers by clicking here.
Implicit Bias Harmful Effects
Implicit bias has harmful effects in many areas of life, from law enforcement to health care, to education. Read more about a National Academies’ workshop that explored its causes, its consequences, and ways to interrupt its damaging impacts.