- Fact Sheet: The Biden-Harris Administration Highlights Investments in Rural America, Invites Public Nominations for Rural Innovators Initiative
- Rural Victims of Intimate-Partner Violence Need More Resources and Support, Study Finds
- A Tribe in Maine Is Using Opioid Settlement Funds on a Sweat Lodge to Treat Addiction
- Fact Sheet: USDA, HHS Announce New Actions to Reduce Impact and Spread of H5N1
- Call for Experts: Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence
- Bill to Expand Definition of 'Village' Qualifying for Water Funds Passes Alaska House
- Child Care Workers Caught in Middle of Michigan's Broken Child Care System
- Few Options Available for Substance Abuse Treatment in the Big Bend
- In Rural Texas, ERs Are Facing a Growing Mental Health Crisis
- Ways and Means Members Put Forth Solutions to Strengthen Telehealth Access and Improve Health Care for Rural Communities
- Sage Memorial Hospital in Navajo Nation Constructs New Facility to Improve Health Care
- How the State, Tribes and Federal Government Are Working to Curb SD's Syphilis Epidemic
- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- RPHARM Program Fulfills Need for Rural Pharmacists
- A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
New Training Series Announced! Building Confidence in Serving People with Disabilities
Oral Health Kansas and the Pathways to Oral Health Team are partnering with the University of Kansas Medical Center and Aetna Better Health of Kansas to offer a new training series, “Accessible Oral Health 2023: Building Confidence in Serving People with Disabilities.” This Project ECHO series will help dental teams learn more about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, communication strategies, sensory awareness, as well as tools and resources for treating people with disabilities. Private practice dental teams, community health centers, and care coordinators are encouraged to attend. The five-part series is available at lunchtime and is free of charge.
The first session will be held on October 19.
New Report Released: Fluoride’s Role in Preventing Caries in Adults and Seniors
The American Dental Association (ADA) recently published a white paper, “Fluoride’s Critical Role in Preventing Caries in Adults and Seniors.” This resource was created to share data and insight about the important role of fluoride in managing the needs of adults and seniors. The paper includes the results of an exclusive ADA survey conducted to better understand the oral health risks for adults and shares approaches for dental professionals to help patients prevent dental caries between dental visits.
Important Updates from CMS on Medicaid and CHIP Renewals: Free Printed Product Ordering and More!
This Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announcement includes the following Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) renewal information:
- Free CMS Printed Product Ordering
- Reminder: New Outreach and Educational Resources for Partners
- Upcoming Partner Webinars
FREE CMS PRINTED PRODUCT ORDERING
The following materials below are available for free to order through the CMS Product Ordering website. To order free printed materials, visit the CMS Product Ordering website. If you do not have an account, you will need to request an account on the login page. Once you log into your account, you can enter the term “Unwinding” in the search bar to view the materials that are available for order.
- Postcard for Kids with Medicaid or CHIP (English and Spanish)
- Postcard for Renewing Kids’ Medicaid or CHIP (English and Spanish)
- Fillable Flyer (English and Spanish)
- Non-fillable Flyer (English, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Tagalog, Vietnamese)
- HealthCare.gov Postcard (English and Spanish)
- Health Care Options Fact Sheet (English and Spanish)
- Tear Off Pad (English and Spanish)
REMINDER: NEW OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES FOR PARTNERS
Over the last few months, CMS has released several new resources to help partners share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals with their communities. These resources focus on school-based and early education settings, faith-based organizations, and special populations. Each resource is posted on the Outreach and Educational Resources Page on Medicaid.gov/Unwinding.
School-Based Communications Toolkit: Education and early education professionals can use this toolkit to help share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals with families. The toolkit includes ready-to-use resources, such as letters to staff and families, social media messages, robocall scripts, and more.
Faith-Based Communications Toolkit: Faith-based organizations can use this toolkit to share important Medicaid and CHIP information with those in their congregations, communities, and with those they serve. The toolkit includes ready-to-use resources, such as bulletin inserts, pulpit messages, social media messages, and more.
Outreach to Families and Children on Medicaid Renewals: Community groups are encouraged to use this slide deck and talking points in their outreach to children and families about what is happening right now with Medicaid and CHIP.
Reaching Out to Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander People about Medicaid and CHIP Renewals (English): Use this one-page handout to help reach Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander people and share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals.
- Recording and Transcript from Webinar on Thursday, August 3, 2023: Reaching Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Populations
Reaching Out to Black Americans about Medicaid and CHIP Renewals (English): Use this one- page handout to help reach Black Americans and share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals.
- Recording and Transcript from Webinar on Thursday, August 10, 2023: Reaching Black American Populations
Reaching Out to Hispanic or Latino People about Medicaid and CHIP Renewals (English and Spanish): Use this one-page handout to help reach Hispanic or Latino people and share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals.
- Recording and Transcript from Webinar on Tuesday, August 8, 2023: Reaching Hispanic and Latino Populations (English and Spanish)
Reaching Out to People with Disabilities about Medicaid and CHIP Renewals (English): Use this one-page handout to help reach people with disabilities and share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals.
- Recording and Transcript from Webinar on Thursday, August 17, 2023: Reaching Aging and Disability Populations
Reaching Out to People Who Live in Rural Areas about Medicaid and CHIP Renewals (English): Use this one-page handout to help reach people who live in rural areas and share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals.
- Recording and Transcript from Webinar on Thursday, August 24, 2023: Reaching Rural Populations
Reaching Out to American Indian and Alaska Native People about Medicaid and CHIP Renewals (English): Use this one-page handout to help reach American Indian and Alaska Native people and share information about Medicaid and CHIP renewals.
- Recording and Transcript from Webinar on Thursday, September 7, 2023: Reaching American Indian and Alaska Native Populations
UPCOMING MONTHLY PARTNER WEBINARS
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CMS continue to host a series of monthly webinars on Medicaid and CHIP Renewals to educate partners. Topics covered during the webinar vary each month. To register for upcoming webinars, please click here.
- October 25, 2023 @ 12:00pm ET
- December 6, 2023 @ 12:00pm ET
Recordings, transcripts, and slides from past webinars can be found on the CMS National Stakeholder Calls webpage
What Rural Health Providers Want from Washington
Maya Goldman, author of Axios Vitals
Rural health providers have a long to-do list for Congress.
Driving the news: When the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee last month put out a call for ideas on shoring up rural America’s fraying health care system, rural providers came prepared.
- The National Rural Health Association sent a letter last week outlining actions Congress can take, ranging from enhanced support for staff retention at the poorest facilities to carveouts from some controversial policies strongly opposed by the broader hospital industry.
Why it matters: Eighty percent of rural areas in the country are medically underserved areas, while rural Americans tend to be older, sicker and poorer than their urban counterparts. Almost 200 rural hospitals have closed in the past two decades, and hundreds more are on the brink of financial collapse.
The rural providers called on Congress to:
- Exempt rural hospitals from price transparency rules, calling them “costly and burdensome” for the facilities.
- Increase payment rates and force Medicare Advantage plans, who account for a growing share of their patients, to speed up payments that providers say are taking too long to arrive.
- Authorize Medicare to extend a policy that boosts reimbursement to hospitals that pay lower wages to their employees, which aims to lessen pay disparities between rural hospitals and higher-wage facilities usually in urban areas.
- Maintain rural hospitals’ access to the 340B federal discount drug-purchasing program as Congress weighs changes to it, and make it easier for different rural provider types to participate in the program.
- Permanently extend telehealth flexibilities put in place during the pandemic.
- Help rural providers move away from fee-for-service payment and into value-based payment programs. The providers say they have been largely overlooked in alternative care models coming out of Medicare’s innovation lab.
Of note: NRHA said rural hospitals should be exempt from future site-neutral hospital payment policies that Congress is considering.
- The organization also pushed back on the Biden administration’s proposal to set required staffing levels in nursing homes, warning many rural facilities would struggle to satisfy the mandate.
Pennsylvania State EMS Office Releases 2023 Statewide Protocol Update
The Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Emergency Medical Services, is pleased to announce the release of the 2023 PA Department of Health Statewide Protocols via the Department’s website at Regulations (pa.gov).
Additionally, on October 21, 2023, the PA Bulletin will publish the updated Scope of Practice, Required Equipment, and Medication lists.
The educational update courses for the BLS, IALS and ALS protocols have been created and released to TRAIN-PA.
- 2023 BLS Protocol Update BEMS course #1000058611
- 2023 IALS Protocol Update BEMS course#1000058615
- 2023 ALS Protocol Update BEMS course #1000058613
These protocols will be in effect on January 1, 2024. All providers, Medical Command Physicians and Agency Medical Directors are required to complete the protocol update course(s) prior to this date. Once the training is complete, the EMS Agency Medical Director may authorize the use of these protocols prior to January 1, 2024.
EMS providers who are unable to complete the training on TRAIN-PA should contact their Agency Medical Director. A PowerPoint and Lesson Plan will be available for in person training.
The Rural Health Information Hub Has Released New Information on Capital Funding for Rural Healthcare
The Rural Health Information Hub recently updated this topic guide with information on different types of funding sources.
FCC Seeks Further Comments on 5G Fund for Rural America
Specific issues for the Federal Communications Commission’s plan to increase rural access to fifth generation (5G) mobile technology include budget allocation, defining areas eligible for bidding, inclusion of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, inclusion of cybersecurity and supply chain risk management plans, and use of the Open Radio Access Networks. Comments are due by October 23, 2023.
CMS Releases Additional Guidance for MFTs and MHCs
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 expanded the range of behavioral health practitioners that can serve Medicare beneficiaries by allowing marriage and family therapists (MFTs) and mental health counselors (MHCs) to bill Medicare directly beginning in 2024. CMS included policies that would implement this in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule for 2024. The agency has also recently released a document providing answers to Frequently Asked Questions on the details of Medicare enrollment for these providers, along with how this relates to other topics including telehealth. MFTs and MHCs can help to address behavioral health workforce shortages in rural areas, with recent research finding a much smaller proportion of rural counties lacked counselors compared to any other behavioral health provider type.
Researchers have Analyzed Competencies and Workplace Stressors: Comparing Rural and Urban Public Health Practice
Researchers analyzed survey responses to the 2021 Public Health Workforce Interest and Needs Survey to compare rural and urban skill proficiencies, training needs, turnover risk, and experiences of bullying due to working as a public health professional. Among the findings, rural staff had a higher likelihood than urban staff of reporting proficiencies in community engagement, data-based decision-making, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Rural staff were also more likely than urban staff to report leaving because of stress, experiences of bullying, and avoiding situations that made them think about COVID-19.
Capital Funding for Rural Healthcare
The Rural Health Information Hub recently updated this topic guide with information on different types of funding sources.