- 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
Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests Still Available
The Biden Administration continues to remind Americans that every U.S. household can order four more free at-home COVID-19 tests from the US Postal Service website here. In order to close gaps in COVID-19 equity across the commonwealth, the PA Department of Health is also providing OTC COVID-19 rapid tests at no cost and is seeking partners to help distribute tests in high-need communities. Partners can request tests via an online form. Any questions for the COVID-19 Testing Team may also be submitted using this form. Participating organizations must:
· Be able to receive delivery of and store tests on-site
· Determine test pick up times/dates, and local distribution strategy
· Communicate test availability to local vulnerable populations
Test quantity allocated is dependent on the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s supply on hand and submitting a request does not guarantee fulfillment. Priority will be given to sites that can access high-need populations and request fulfillment is limited to two requests per month.
Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage between Urban and Rural Counties have been Found
CDC’s new report shows that COVID-19 vaccination coverage with the first dose of the primary vaccination series was lower in rural than in urban counties, and disparities have increased nearly threefold since April 2021. Uptake of the booster and additional doses was similarly low in both rural and urban counties.
Celebrating One Year with the American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), also known as the COVID-19 relief package, was signed into law on March 11, 2021, and included significant savings for Pennsylvanians seeking marketplace coverage and those already enrolled in coverage through Pennie. The law increased the amount of financial assistance available to Pennsylvanians to provide relief for those struggling with the pandemic and the economic repercussions. The ARP included an increase in the eligibility for, and the amount of, premium tax credits for Pennsylvanians at all income levels during the 2021 and 2022 plan years, including those historically shut out of assistance due to earning more than 400% of the Federal Poverty Level. In some cases, lower-income enrollees had their premiums eliminated completely. Pennsylvania taxpayers and their spouses who were eligible to receive unemployment compensation in 2021, were eligible for the maximum levels of financial assistance through Pennie, including advance premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions (CSR) to significantly reduce the cost of health coverage and care. Many of these households were able to enroll in a silver plan in their area with a $0 premium for the remainder of 2021 and 2022. More than 374,000 enrolled in Pennie marketplace insurance coverage during the 2022 Open Enrollment Period with significant savings; overall coverage increased by 11% due to the ARP. On average, Americans saved $800 per person last year and thousands per family because of the ARP affordability measures.
Former PA Health Secretary is Named USA Today Woman of the Year
Former Pennsylvania Health Secretary Administrator Rachel Levine has been named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year. Levine currently serves as the assistant secretary for health with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as well as the head of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She is the first openly transgender four-star officer in the nation as well as the first female four-star officer in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. USA Today notes that she is “the nation’s highest-ranking openly transgender official.” Levine served as Pennsylvania’s top-ranking health official from 2017 to 2021. Pres. Joe Biden nominated her to HHS last January and she was confirmed as the nation’s assistant secretary of health by the Senate in March 2021.
PREVENT Pandemics Act is Approved by Senate HELP Committee
The Senate HELP Committee passed the bipartisan pandemic bill, including a permanent extension of Federal Tort Claims Act Coverage for Health Center Volunteer Health Professionals. Statutory authority for the Health Center Volunteer Health Professionals (VHP) Program is currently due to sunset on October 1, 2022. Previously issued VHP Notices of Deeming Action (NDA) are being amended to expressly reflect this statutory sunset date. Future VHP Notices of Deeming Action for the calendar year 2022 also will reflect the statutory sunset date of September 30, 2022. Absent legislative action to continue the program beyond the statutory sunset date, HRSA will not accept VHP deeming applications submitted after May 9, 2022.
Biden Signs Omnibus Appropriations Package
President Biden signed the FY22 omnibus appropriations package. The bill includes a $65 million increase for Community Health Centers from FY21 allocations, totaling $1.748 billion, although because of sequestration there is a net decrease of $30 million to the Health Center Program. The HRSA Bureau of Primary Care (BPHC), despite the sequestration cut, has committed to no health center funding cuts. The bill also provides direct spending “earmarks” for ending the HIV epidemic (but not as much funding as anticipated), school-based health centers (for 330 grantees, but absent the additional funding anticipated for non-330 grantees), expanded cancer screening, and addressing intimate partner violence. Lastly, the package includes a 151-day extension of telehealth flexibilities beyond the Public Health Emergency. These telehealth flexibilities will allow health centers to provide virtual care to patients, including audio-only visits. The bill also provides $14 billion in Ukraine aid, but not COVID-19 supplemental funding. This week, the House plans to vote on a separate COVID-19 supplemental funding bill. However, the passage does not appear likely.
A New Acting Insurance Commissioner has been Named
Mike Humphreys now serves as the Acting Insurance Commissioner for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) after the resignation of former Insurance Commissioner Jessica Altman. Mike previously served as the Chief of Staff at PID. In that position, Humphreys was responsible for regulating the commonwealth’s insurance marketplace, overseeing licensed agents and insurance professionals, monitoring the financial landscape of companies doing business in Pennsylvania, educating consumers, and ensuring residents are treated fairly. Before joining PID, Humphreys served as Assistant Commissioner for Insurance at the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI).
New Statistics Available: 2016–2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
The U.S. Census Bureau released new statistics from the 2016–2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. Following pandemic-related data collection disruptions, the Census Bureau revised its methodology to reduce nonresponse bias in data collected in 2020. After evaluating the effectiveness of this methodology, the Census Bureau determined the standard, full suite of 2016–2020 ACS 5-year data are fit for public release, government and business uses.
Median Household Income
- The newly released 2016–2020 ACS 5-year data shows that Pennsylvania’s median household income increased to $63,627 when compared to the 2011–2015 ACS 5-year data adjusted for inflation.
- Between the two nonoverlapping periods, median household income increased in 66 of the state’s 67 counties. The largest increase was in Chester County (+$10,205) and the largest decline in Bradford County (-$1,180).
Poverty
- From 2011–2015 to 2016–2020, the overall poverty rate for Pennsylvania decreased from 13.5% to 12.0%.
- From 2011–2015 to 2016–2020, the poverty rate decreased in 59 of the state’s 67 counties, with the largest decrease in Juniata County (-3.8%). The rate increased in 7 counties, with the largest increase in Cameron County (+5.2%). There was no change in Schuylkill County (remained at 13.1%).
The revised methodology improves the 2020 weighted survey responses by comparing characteristics for responding and nonresponding households using administrative, third-party and decennial census data. The resulting 2020 input data were then integrated with the inputs from 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 (processed using standard ACS methodology) to produce the 5-year data products. To learn more about changes to the methodology, view the methodology user note.
It is important to note, the ACS 5-year estimates are not designed to measure rapid change during short periods because the data come from a 5-year period. Although the most recent estimates contain data that include the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic, they also contain data collected in the final years (2016–2019) of the longest expansion in the history of U.S. business cycles. These data only reflect a small part of the impact of the pandemic on social, economic and housing measures.
Data users should use caution when comparing 2016–2020 5-year estimates to earlier ACS data. For more information, visit comparison guidance. To learn more about the ACS 5-year period estimates, read Period Estimates in the American Community Survey.
Changes to Race and Hispanic Origin
The findings on race and ethnicity from the 2016–2020 ACS were similar to the 2020 Census results.
- The White population remained the largest race or ethnicity group in the state, however this population declined by 2.6% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020. The American Indian and Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander populations also declined during this period.
- The multiracial (the Two or More Races) population increased by 58.8% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020.
- The Some Other Race population increased 23.6% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020 while the Asian population increased 14.4% and the Black or African American population increased 1.2% during this period.
- The Hispanic or Latino population, which includes people of any race, increased by 19.2% between 2011–2015 and 2016–2020.
The 2016–2020 ACS 5-year estimates also reflect planned changes made to the design, processing and coding of the race and Hispanic origin questions.
Beginning in 2020, the Census Bureau implemented changes to the Hispanic origin and race questions based on extensive research and outreach over the past decade. The improvements made to the design, processing and coding of the Hispanic origin and race questions are similar to changes made in the 2020 Census.
The differences in the overall racial distributions relative to 2011–2015 ACS data are largely due to improvements in the design of the two separate questions for Hispanic origin and race data collection and processing as well as some demographic changes.
The Census Bureau is also set to release the ACS 5-year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) and the Variance Replicate Estimates (VRE) on March 31, 2022.
New Release: An Update on Cancer Deaths in the United States
A new report on cancer, An Update on Cancer Deaths in the United States, uses the latest cancer death data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Center for Health Statistics. In 2020, almost 603,000 people died of cancer in the United States, but cancer death rates have continued to drop. Cancer deaths have dropped 27% over 20 years from 2001 to 2020. In other findings:
- Cancer remained the second leading cause of death, after heart disease in 2020. COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death.
- Lung cancer was the leading cause of cancer death, attributing to 23% of all cancer deaths.
- Cancer death rates differed by cancer type, sex, racial and ethnic group, and residence in an urban or rural county.
UPMC Launches First Tele-ED in Pennsylvania at UPMC Kane
From the Bradford (PA) Era
UPMC is leveraging its clinical expertise and innovative technology to launch the first tele-Emergency Department (Tele-ED) in Pennsylvania at UPMC Kane in McKean County.
In line with the Pennsylvania Department of Health guidelines announced on March 2 to increase patient access to care through innovative delivery models, UPMC created a first-of-its kind in Pennsylvania rural health care approach that will allow access to excellent emergency medical care at UPMC Kane.
“UPMC is committed to advancing access to quality health care for all our patients, wherever they live and work,” said Donald M. Yealy, M.D., UPMC chief medical officer and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. “This new model of care will meet the needs of the community, today and into the future, while using all available resources across our deep and talented workforce.”
UPMC Kane is partnering with UPMC Hamot in Erie to create an emergency medicine collaboration using advanced telemedicine technology. Board certified emergency medicine physicians located at UPMC Hamot, 94 miles away in Erie, partner with on-site, trained advanced practice providers (APPs) at UPMC Kane, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to provide the best care for all who seek it.
“Bedside care is delivered by physician assistants (PAs) and certified registered nurse practitioners (CRNPs) at UPMC Kane using advanced video, audio and examination technology to connect patients seamlessly and quickly with board-certified emergency medicine physicians at UPMC Hamot,” said Mark Papalia, UPMC Kane president. “Together, the APP and physician diagnose and care for the patient.”
UPMC Kane is an acute care hospital located in a remote, rural community with an average daily inpatient census of five to six hospitalized patients and approximately 6,000 total emergency department visits each year.UPMC Hamot is the advanced tertiary care regional hub for UPMC in northwest Pennsylvania and southwest New York caring for nearly 70,000 patients in the emergency department annually. UPMC Hamot provides high-level specialized care and is a Level II trauma center, the only accredited trauma center in the Erie region.
“Accessibility and long-term sustainability are the driving forces behind UPMC Kane’s innovative model,” said Yealy. “In rural communities across the country, the ratio of physicians to patients is approximately half that of suburban and urban areas. More than 100 rural hospitals closed across the country over the past decade in part because of recruitment challenges. Much of rural America is medically underserved creating the necessity for new models of care to improve access to and quality of health care.”
This innovation for rural health care delivery results from careful planning and training within the UPMC Kane transformation plan to improve rural health care and enhance access, as part of its enrollment in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model. As a participating hospital of the initiative, the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) permitted UPMC Kane to pursue Tele-ED program development and launch in Pennsylvania in advance of the Commonwealth’s March 2 rural health guidelines announcement.
“UPMC Kane has been successfully operating a similar inpatient tele-hospitalist program since May of 2021,” said Papalia. “The program is in partnership with the UPMC Center for Community Hospitalist Medicine. Through this technology innovation, inpatients receive virtual rounds and on-demand consultation access with UPMC’s vast network of physicians and advanced clinical resources.”
Alike to a Tele-ED, the tele-hospitalist program enhances and improves rural health care through a sustainable, vibrant and transformational new model of care. “UPMC remains committed to creating the highest levels of access and quality care for patients in every community we serve,” added Yealy. “This new model of Tele-ED care represents looking ahead by designing sustainable models of health care delivery for the future that also serve our patients’ needs today. We are here to care for our communities and provide even greater access to the excellent care and expertise of UPMC.”