- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- Telehealth Study Recruiting Veterans Now
- USDA Delivers Immediate Relief to Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Communities Impacted by Recent Disasters
- Submit Nominations for Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) Committees
- Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation of the Medicare Program (Executive Order 14192) - Request for Information
- Dr. Mehmet Oz Shares Vision for CMS
- CMS Refocuses on its Core Mission and Preserving the State-Federal Medicaid Partnership
- Social Factors Help Explain Worse Cardiovascular Health among Adults in Rural Vs. Urban Communities
- Reducing Barriers to Participation in Population-Based Total Cost of Care (PB-TCOC) Models and Supporting Primary and Specialty Care Transformation: Request for Input
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule
- Rural America Faces Growing Shortage of Eye Surgeons
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
- NRHA Continues Partnership to Advance Rural Oral Health
Federal Resources to Improve Living at Home in Rural Areas
On Wednesday, three federal departments – the Departments of Health & Human Services, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development –released a joint informational bulletin summarizing the federal resources available to improve home safety for older adults and people with disabilities in rural areas. It describes how states can improve accessibility of home environments through Medicaid, programs that can facilitate home repair and modification, initiatives to reduce and prevent falls, resources to support aging in place, and loan opportunities for mortgages and housing repair.
Training Opportunity–Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP)
The Pennsylvania Department of Health has released updated curriculum on how to effectively use the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP). Since spring 2018, Quality Insights has been on-site at more than 70 hospitals and clinics across Pennsylvania presenting these live sessions. Originally Quality Insights Quality Innovation Network was tasked with providing education to the top 25 counties with high overdose rates, but now they are providing this grant-funded curriculum to all counties in Pennsylvania.
Attached is:
- An introductory letter from the Department of Health outlining the specifics for the education* to be offered through June 2021.
*The education is provided at no cost to you and CME is available for provider participation.
- A description of each area of focus—called “modules”—for you to review. More detailed information can be located here.
Attachments:
Pennsylvania State Data Center Map of the Month
Census 2020 Updates
U.S. Census Bureau Director, Steven Dillingham, recently provided updates to its operational plans including hiring employees to accelerate the delivery of data by the December 31, 2020 deadline.
Census taker will begin to interview households in select areas that have not yet responded to the 2020 Census. For Pennsylvania, those areas include areas managed by the following area census offices: Allentown, Norristown, Philly Franklin, Philly Penn, and Reading.
The U.S. Census Bureau has begun to email households in low response areas to encourage their response. Millions of emails are planned to be sent through September.
New data are available from the Household Pulse Survey, the result of an effort by the Bureau and other federal statistical agencies, to document trends in how individuals are affected by the pandemic.
Follow response rates to the 2020 Census with the U.S. Census Bureau’s Response Rates page. Or check out the Hard To Count 2020 tool created by SUNY’s Center for Urban Research which has a variety of other useful data in addition to response rates.
Avoid fraud and scams related to the 2020 Census by reviewing these tips from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Census 2020 Response Rates
The figure below, produced by the CUNY Mapping Service at the Center for Urban Research, CUNY Graduate Center, shows the difference between the current 2020 Census response rate and the 2010 Census response rate. See attached document for higher resolution image. While Pennsylvania, has fewer red counties, representing differences of 10 percentage points or more, than some other states, it does have five counties that fall within this range, including: Cameron, Jefferson, Montour, Philadelphia, and Tioga.
Census2020_Counties_July29vs2010
As of the end of July, Pennsylvania ranks 17th in the nation for its current 2020 Census response rate (66.0%). The five counties with the lowest response rates in Pennsylvania include: Forest (25.9%), Sullivan (30.6%), Pike (38.4%), Cameron (41.9%), and Wayne (45.7%). Those with the highest response rates include Bucks (75.3%), Lancaster (74.7%), Chester (74.6%), Montgomery (74.0%), and Cumberland (73.5%).
For more information on response rates, visit: https://www.censushardtocountmaps2020.us/
CDC Releases Provisional Overdose Mortality Data During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released provisional data showing a 6.6% increase in provisional drug overdose mortality for the 12 months ending in January 2020; this is compared to an increase of 4.8% and 3.0% for the 12 months ending in December 2019 and November 2019, respectively. Deaths involving synthetic opioids, cocaine, and psychostimulants with abuse potential (including methamphetamine) continue to rise when compared to the previous year. Even as we pour time, treasure, and talent into addressing the COVID-19 pandemic, there is still important work to do on the opioid crisis that has ravaged lives and communities across the county, especially now as we are also dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic that could markedly affect our nation’s mental health and risk of substance use. This provisional data comes as the CDC also releases a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) on Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S. from June 24-30, 2020. Communities have faced mental health challenges related to COVID-19–associated morbidity, mortality, and mitigation activities.
To Fight Pandemics, We Need Rural Hospitals
Since 2010, 130 rural hospitals have closed across the country and this crisis has only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. NRHA has led the fight in getting Congress to provide relief to rural America whose older populations are being hit hard by the virus. Sustainable relief in the form of eliminating cuts to Medicaid will be crucial to the survival of rural hospitals in and after the pandemic. Eased restrictions on telemedicine must also be made permanent so that senior citizens in rural areas have better accessibility to care. The virus is spreading rapidly in rural areas where the meatpacking industry is located, and there are fears that the vulnerable population here will be especially hard hit.
USDA Rural Placement Innovation Challenge
Starting September 10th, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will make five awards from a total investment of $1 million to assist with community planning efforts that support local economies and quality of life. Uses for funds include increasing broadband access, preserving cultural and historical structures, and supporting the development of transportation, housing, and recreational spaces. Eligible applicants are public and private entities that can provide technical assistance to cities or towns with up to 50,000 residents.
HHS Invests in Diagnostic Labs to Expand COVID-19 Testing Capacity in the United States
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced combined investments of $6.5 million in two commercial diagnostic laboratories to expand capacity to conduct up to 4 million additional SARS-CoV-2 tests per month. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19. The investments in Aegis Sciences Corporation and in Sonic Healthcare USA will provide critical laboratory equipment supplied by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences and Thermo Fisher Scientific and increase staffing and infrastructure to allow the U.S. to perform an additional 1 million tests each week by early October.
Representative Balderson Plans to Introduce the Rural Equal Aid Act
Representative Troy Balderson plans to introduce the bipartisan Rural Equal Aid Act in the House of Representatives, aimed at supporting USDA loan borrowers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this month, Senators Tester and Romney introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate. This legislation would subsidize payments on loans made under certain rural development loan programs, similar to Small Business Administration (SBA) loans given to urban businesses. The bill would