KFF News reports that the suicide rate for Hispanic people in the United States has increased significantly over the past decade. The trend is seen coast to coast, and in both rural and urban communities. For Hispanic children 12 and younger, the rate increased 92.3% from 2010 to 2019. Read more.

Duquesne University is celebrating the opening of its new College of Medicine building. Officials and partners convened last week at a ribbon cutting for the medical college that will welcome its inaugural class of students in July. Duquesne President Ken Gormley said, “the medical school will promote equitable access to health care, especially in urban and rural underserved areas, by educating and training the next generation of physicians for this region and beyond.” The college will start by enrolling 85 students, with the plan to increase annual enrollment to 170 a year beginning in 2026. Duquesne University hopes the school will attract a large and competitive national pool of several thousand applicants. North Side Christian Health Center in Pittsburgh has announced it will partner with the new Duquesne School of Medicine, serving as a clinical rotation site for third- and fourth-year medical students.

Visit HHS’ Poverty Guidelines webpage for the 2024 guidelines.

Seventeen hospital associations and 30 providers filed amicus briefs last week in support of the American Hospital Association’s suit against the restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on website tracking. In the briefs, the parties warn the restrictions would threaten their ability to provide needed health services. Read more on the case and review HHS’ Use of Online Technologies by HIPAA Covered Entities and Business Associates.

The PA CHW Collaborative is conducting a Community Health Worker (CHW) Statewide Survey to gather information about the scope of practice for CHWs in Pennsylvania (PA), and specifically in Community Health Centers and Community Based Organizations. The aggregate information collected will be provided to the PA Department of Human Services and will help to shape the forthcoming state plan amendment which, if approved, will authorize payment for CHW services under PA Medicaid (anticipated 1/1/25). Please work with your CHWs and leadership teams to organize a response and submit only one per organization. Please respond by Friday, February 2.

The PA Department of Human Services (DHS) has launched a survey of Medicaid recipients on their Medicaid renewal experience. The survey is being conducted in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh’s Medicaid Research Center, and feedback collected will be used to inform renewal outreach strategies moving forward. Learn more.

Last week, the Ranking member of the Senate HELP Committee expanded his 340B investigation to include the nation’s two largest contract pharmacy companies. The senator sent letters to both CVS and Walgreens, seeking detailed information on a long list of topics, including:

• How much money they earn from the program, and through what fees/mechanisms
• How many covered entities they work with
• The relationship between CVS and their 340B TPA, Wellpartner

The letter highlighted that 340B does not limit the fees that contract pharmacies can charge covered entities or third-party administrators (TPAs), and that the two companies realize “significant profits” as a result. The letters are part of the senator’s ongoing probe into 340B, which began in September with letters to two major health systems and was expanded to two large community health centers in November. Sen. Cassidy has not specified how he intends to use any findings from his inquiries, and it remains unclear if his probe has the support of other members of the HELP Committee.

With one day to spare and a snowstorm looming, Congress approved its third Continuing Resolution (CR) for FY2024 last Thursday. Under the new CR, all health center funding (both mandatory and discretionary) for Section 330, the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), and Teaching Health Centers (THCs) has been extended at FY2023 levels through March 8. Operational funds for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were also extended through March 8, while funding for four other Federal agencies, including the VA, will expire a week earlier, on March 1. March will be a busy time for lawmakers with expiration of the CR, Super Tuesday on March 5 and President Biden’s State of the Union on March 7.