Pending FDA Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs) for the new Pediatric Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine in the next few weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is planning for a pre-ordering period during which certain vaccine doses will be made available to each jurisdiction based on pro-rata allocation. During this pre-ordering phase, the PA Department of Health (PA DOH) and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health will submit vaccine preorder requests on behalf of providers. For Philadelphia County the deadline to order was Sept. 27. For all other counties in the Commonwealth, the deadline to submit preorder requests is Sept. 30 at 4:00 pm. Click here to submit a vaccine request form to preorder the vaccine through the PA DOH. Please do not order pediatric Pfizer Bivalent vaccines in PA SIIS until advised to do so, as any order put on PA SIIS for this product will be deleted. Vaccine preorder requests are not guaranteed to be fulfilled, as the supply may initially be limited. Doses that are pre-ordered will be processed for delivery following the issuance of the EUA. Additionally, the deadline for HRSA Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program participants to pre-order Pfizer bivalent boosters for pediatric patients ages 5-11 was Sept. 28 and was capped at 100 doses per site. The updated CDC Fall Vaccination Operational Planning Guide includes more detailed information about pediatric bivalent boosters.

With students back in school, it is important for school-based telehealth providers to educate parents about how to use telehealth. This Best Practice Guide outlines how to build a school telehealth program, prepare students and guardians for school-based telehealth, the bill for telehealth, and more. (Also available in Spanish)

A blueprint for spending $279 million in federal aid for capital projects to develop broadband services was approved recently by the Pennsylvania Broadband Development Authority (PBDA). The authority at its Sept. 15 meeting approved a plan to split that amount with $200 million for an infrastructure grant program targeting locations that don’t have access to 25/3 Mbps reliable service; $45 million to finance public community projects in schools and local governments through the Digital Anchor Institution Grant Program and $20 million to increase access to laptops, tablets, and computers through the Digital Access and Opportunity Grant Program. The three programs will address broadband service infrastructure and availability, digital equity and affordability, device and technology access, and digital literacy and technical support, the board said. Click here to learn more about PBDA.

Walmart and UnitedHealth Group announced a 10-year partnership to offer healthcare services. They say that beginning in 2023, they will provide a range of affordable health services designed to improve care outcomes and the patient experience at 15 Walmart Health outlets in Georgia and Florida. They will then expand to other states. Among the offerings: is a co-branded Medicare Advantage plan in Georgia, called UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Walmart Flex (HMO-POS). Walmart Health Virtual Care will be in-network for commercial members in UnitedHealth’s Choice Plus PPO plan.

Two articles published in the New York Times this past Saturday—including one on the front page of the newspaper—are generating extensive discussion and concern among policymakers, 340B stakeholders, and the media, and raising concerns that Community Health Centers could be “painted with the same brush” as the hospitals in the articles. The first article, entitled How a Hospital Chain Used a Poor Neighborhood to Turn Huge Profits, was featured on the front page under the heading “Profits over Patients.” It claims that the hospital used 340B to generate hundreds of millions of dollars, which it directed to facilities in wealthier neighborhoods areas while removing services from underserved neighborhoods. On Monday, NACHC sent a response to the Times stating, “Bon Secours has chosen to put profits over patients, and the community suffered as a result. Despite the tragic circumstances of this case, it is essential to note that 340B has been instrumental in expanding access to life-saving care in low-income communities. Community Health Centers rely on 340B to provide critical drugs to patients who are typically low-income, uninsured, and members of racial and ethnic minorities.” The second article, entitled “They were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded them to Pay,” discussed how a large non-profit, 340B-eligible hospital system “trained staff to wring money out of patients, even those eligible for free care.” While the article did not explicitly mention 340B, some 340B opponents are linking the two articles together as examples of how 340B providers abuse the program.

A proposed rule by the Biden Administration would enhance equity by continuing to mandate healthcare-related protections for many populations that health centers serve, including LGBTQ patients, patients with disabilities, Medicare/Medicaid/Marketplace patients, and patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). This proposed rule changes Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability within health care settings, programs, and activities. The original rule was released in 2016 under the Obama Administration, providing regulatory authority to non-discrimination provisions within the Affordable Care Act. The Trump Administration made fundamental changes to the rule in 2019 that rolled back many protections from discrimination. Now, the Biden Administration is taking steps to restore and extend patient protections. NACHC created a customizable comment letter template to make sharing your support for these vital patient protections easier. Share your comments before the Monday, Oct. 3 deadline; submit them here.

Announced at the Sept ember 9 Pennie Community Workgroup, new system enhancements will be available beginning October 2022. Pennie plans to pilot a Live Chat feature and add organ donor and voter registration information to the end of the Pennie enrollment application. The Pennie system will also use current monthly income when assessing potential eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP. On previous applications, yearly income was used to determine eligibility. This change will result in a more accurate assessment of likely eligibility due to fluctuating income. To listen to the recording or view slides, click here.

In a new issue brief, the Commonwealth Fund explores how changing the benchmark plan might affect consumers’ deductibles and out-of-pocket limits and how those costs would compare to those in employer health plans. The benchmark plan refers to the second lowest-cost silver plan in the marketplace in each area or in the individual/family insurance market to define essential health benefits within that state for individual/family and small group plans. According to the researchers, “Modest changes like these could encourage more people to get the care they need and keep them from incurring medical debt.” Read more here.

FamiliesUSA published a white paper discussing the importance of Community Health Workers (CHW) and the need for sustainable funding to address health disparities. Community Health Centers employ CHWs to address enabling services, including disease-specific education, translation issues, transportation coordination, language services, enrollment assistance and other non-clinical services.