A new best practice guide from HRSA explains how telehealth can create connections between patients and providers for maternal health in rural and underserved areas.

The interactive site allows a search by zip code and will map all Summer Meal Sites within a 15-mile radius.  You can also text “Summer Meals” to 914-342-7744 or call 1-866-348-6479 to find a site near you. The U.S. Department of Agriculture accepts applications for new sites on an ongoing basis.

Researchers at the Rural and Underserved Health Research Center found visits to the emergency department for unintentional injuries in 2018 were similar in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas, but injuries for rural residents were more likely to be fatal.

A new interactive map will give you a county’s population and its median age – the midpoint at which one-half of the population is older and one-half is younger.  Variations in age distribution within a state are common; for example, median ages in South Dakota ranged from 23 in Todd County to 56 in Custer County.  The Census Bureau has not yet released numbers for older U.S. residents from the 2020 count, but a report from 2019 showed that 17.5 percent of the rural population was 65 years and older compared to 13.8 percent in urban areas.  Overall, the Census estimated that the nation’s 65-and-older population had grown by a third since 2010 and that the working-age population is not keeping pace with the growth of older Americans.

 A new brief from the National Center for Health Statistics gives geographic detail on the latest increase in overdose death rates reported last week.  Overall, urban counties had higher rates, but eight states – California, Connecticut, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Vermont, and Virginia – had rates that were higher in rural counties.  The data showed that, compared to urban counties, female death rates were higher in rural counties and that deaths involving psychostimulants – such as cocaine and methamphetamine – were higher in rural counties.

On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced new efforts to improve health outcomes during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum periods.  The Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis supports a push from the White House to address rising rates of maternal mortality and morbidity nationwide.  Researchers have reported significant disparities by race – Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native Women are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes – and by geography, with a pregnancy-related mortality ratio of 29.4 per 100,000 live births in rural areas, versus 18.2 in urban areas in 2015.

A workforce report released by the Pennsylvania Coalition for Oral Health (PCOH) finds a major decrease in the dental workforce, including a staggering decrease in dental assistants. The Access to Oral Health Workforce Report uncovers that many PA counties are struggling to maintain recommended staffing levels. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, rural areas and Medicaid provider networks have seen the sharpest reductions in care providers. Join PCOH staff, partners, and consultants on August 1 at 12:00 pm, for an overview of the Access to Oral Health Workforce Report on the status of the dental workforce. For more information and to register click here.

HRSA’s fiscal year (FY) 2021 fact sheets and fact sheet maps are now available. Along with this release, Data by Geography, Find Grants, and Data Explorer now have the ratified FY 2021 HRSA-awarded grants data. As part of this project, the Office of Information Technology collaborated with all bureaus and offices to define the narratives and produce summary reports of the grant award totals for each FY at the national, regional, state, county, and congressional district levels.

On July 19, CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended the use of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine for adult patients (ages 18 and older) for primary series vaccination. See the CDC statement. This recommendation is in line with the FDA’s Emergency Use Authorization of the vaccine for this age group. A limited supply of Novavax is available for Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program participants. Ordering through PA-SIIS opened on Monday, July 25. Health centers can submit a one-time order of one package (100 doses) per health center site. See these CDC resources for more information:

·     Novavax COVID-19 Vaccination Operational Planning Guide

·     Use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the U.S.

·     Novavax COVID-19, Adjuvanted Vaccine: Overview and Safety | CDC Novavax HCP Fact Sheet 07132022 (fda.gov)

For more information, please contact Erin Babe, PACHC Public Health Program Specialist.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis on a proposal to permanently extend the enhanced ACA Marketplace Place Health Insurance subsidies which are set to expire at the end of this year. The CBO also found that if the subsidies became permanent, it would balloon federal spending by $247.9 billion. Extending these enhanced subsidies on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance exchanges would also lead to 4.8 million new sign-ups a year and slight declines in non-group coverage. Senate Democrats are working to pass a two-year extension to the subsidy enhancement passed originally by the American Rescue Plan Act for coverage years 2021 and 2022. The increased subsidies helped ensure some low-income customers had low or no premiums for coverage.