- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- CMS: Medicare Program; FY 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Fiscal Year 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2025 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program; and Medicare Overpayments; and Appeal Rights for Certain Changes in Patient Status; Corrections and Correcting Amendment
- CMS: Request for Information; Health Technology Ecosystem
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2025 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program; and Medicare Overpayments; and Appeal Rights for Certain Changes in Patient Status; Corrections and Correcting Amendment
- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- State: 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application
- HHS: Request for Information (RFI): Ensuring Lawful Regulation and Unleashing Innovation To Make American Healthy Again
- Public Inspection: CMS: Request for Information: Health Technology Ecosystem
Talking to Youth and Young Adults to Prevent E-Cigarette Use
A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) article looks at the issue of youth e-cigarette use. About 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle school students reported using e-cigarettes in 2020. Any tobacco use by youth and young adults, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe. Most e-cigarette products sold contain nicotine, which is the same addictive drug found in other tobacco products, including cigarettes and cigars. The nicotine content information on e-cigarette packaging is often misleading or inaccurate. This resource provides information about e-cigarette products and gives examples of what they can look like.
Oral Health Access Teledentistry User’s Guide
The National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) released a new “Oral Health Access Teledentistry User’s Guide.” Teledentistry is an emerging trend to help improve access to oral health care, improve the dental care delivery system, and lower costs. NNOHA has worked with health centers since Spring 2020 to develop and test a variety of strategies to deliver dental services via synchronous teledentistry. This guide gives an overview of teledentistry, describes its use in health center dental programs, and includes practical tools for implementing teledentistry.
New Report: Oral Health Care of People with Special Health Care Needs
The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) released a report, “Best Practice Approach: Oral Health Care of People with Special Health Care Needs (SHCN).” People with SHCN often have complex medical and behavioral issues that require specialized training and appropriate settings to provide comprehensive oral health care. This report describes a public health strategy and uses practice examples to illustrate successful implementation.
Kinship Care Highlighted Nationally Throughout September
September is National Kinship Care Month – a time to recognize, celebrate and support the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives (as well as non-relatives with a meaningful connection to the child or family) who care for children when they cannot safely remain with their parents.
It is critically important for these children to be able to live with someone they know, trust, and have a connection to, as these relationships provide a sense of security, community, cultural identity, and can reduce the trauma of being removed from their home. Unfortunately, not all children who are removed from their parents are provided the opportunity to live with kin.
National Kinship Care Month is a reminder that we must work together to find policy solutions to keep children connected to their kin. Additionally, we should thank those caregivers who are supporting abused or neglected children both inside and outside of the child welfare system.
Pennsylvania’s KinConnector program provides valuable resources to kin who are caring for children formally through the child welfare system, or informally. Every Wednesday in September, the program is hosting virtual information forums on a variety of topics of interest: financial assistance, legal rights, education and child care, and mental health, among others. Registration for these events is now open to the public.
USDA Seeks Applications to Spur Job and Economic Growth in Rural Areas
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson announced that the department is accepting loan and grant applications for projects that create jobs and economic growth in rural communities.
Funds are being made available under the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant (REDLG) program. Through the REDLG program, USDA provides zero-interest loans and grants to Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Electric Program and Telecom Program borrowers who will use the funds to help local businesses finance projects that will create and retain jobs. Projects must be located in rural areas or towns with a population of 50,000 or less.
Funds may be used to support:
- business startup costs;
- business expansion;
- business incubators;
- technical assistance feasibility studies;
- advanced telecommunications services and computer networks for medical, educational and job training services; and
- community facilities projects that spur economic development.
Eligible applicants include current, former and potential borrowers of Rural Development’s Electric Program and Telecommunications Program.
Applications are being accepted continuously with funding competition deadlines on Sept. 30, 2021; Dec. 31, 2021; March 31, 2022; and June 30, 2022.
Applications submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. local time on the deadline dates to the USDA Rural Development State Office where the project is located and will compete for the available REDLG funds in that quarter.
Interested applicants are encouraged to contact their local USDA Rural Development State Office well in advance of the application deadline to ask questions about their project, the program or the application process.
Additional information is available on page 50015 of the Sept.7, 2021, Federal Register. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.
Pennsylvania Administration Requires Masking to Protect Kids
With a focus on protecting students and keeping them in classrooms, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf joined the Departments of Health, Human Services and Education to discuss the current state of COVID-19 and a new Secretary of Health order requiring masks to be worn inside K-12 school buildings, early learning programs and child care providers, which will take effect at 12:01 am on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. Universal masking in schools, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend, reduces the risk that entire classrooms will need to quarantine due to a positive COVID-19 case. For eligible adolescents in Pennsylvania, 18.2 percent of children ages 12-14 are fully vaccinated and 38.3 percent of children ages 15-19 are fully vaccinated. The order applies to everyone indoors at K-12 public schools including brick and mortar and cyber charter schools, private and parochial schools, career and technical centers (CTCs), and intermediate units (IUs). The order also applies to early learning programs and childcare providers for children ages 2 and older, as recommended by the CDC.
See the initial FAQs on the new order.
Teledentistry User’s Guide
The National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) has worked with health centers since the spring of 2020 to develop and test a variety of strategies to deliver dental services via synchronous teledentistry. Their new User’s Guide gives an overview of teledentistry, describes its use in health center dental programs, and includes practical tools for implementing teledentistry. NNOHA is a HRSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP).
Employee Mandates Are Moving the Needle
Workers are more likely to get vaccinated when their employers require them to, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
- Respondents Whose Employer Require COVID-19 Vaccination: 80% said they were already vaccinated; 10% said they were likely to get a vaccine and 11% said they were either “not likely” or were a “hard pass” on the idea.
- Respondents Whose Employer Had No COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement: 68% said they’d already been vaccinated; another 6% were likely to get the vaccine, and 27% said they were either “not likely” or were a “hard pass” on vaccination.
Mandates will likely accelerate over the next several months, according to a new report by advisory firm Willis Towers Watson that found that 52% of the employers surveyed said they may impose a mandate, which would be a dramatic increase from the 21 percent who mandate vaccines now. Nearly a third of employers said they might make vaccination a requirement to gain access to the workplace, while about one in five are considering making vaccination a condition of employment.
Provider Relief Fund Website Moves
Congress provided $178 billion in funding to establish the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) program that gives financial support to providers who have seen lost revenues and increased expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its inception, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has played a lead role in administering the PRF program and disbursing the funds as quickly as possible. With the expansion of the program, information previously hosted on the HHS website is now available on the HRSA website. The migration of the content allows HRSA to manage, under its own website domain, all PRF information, announcements, and future funding availabilities. Users who visit hhs.gov/providerrelief (previous URL) will be automatically redirected to hrsa.gov/provider-relief. All archived content will remain available to the public.
For updates about the PRF and other HRSA programs, subscribe to the HRSA eNews.
CMS Announces First-Ever Chief Dental Officer
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced Dr. Natalia Chalmers as its first-ever Chief Dental Officer in the Office of the Administrator. In her role as CMS’s chief dental officer, Dr. Chalmers will advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to care for the whole person, a key to reducing health disparities and advancing health equity.