- How HHS SUD Confidentiality Regulations Will Impact Rural Providers
- VA Announces Expansion of "Close to Me" Cancer Program as Part of the Cancer Moonshot, Bringing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Closer to Thousands of Veterans
- Navajo Psychiatrist Bridges Gaps Between Native American Culture and Behavioral Health Care
- Biden-Harris Administration Releases National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and First-Ever Federal Action Plan
- Biden-Harris Administration Takes Historic Action to Increase Access to Quality Care, and Support to Families and Care Workers
- Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don't Meet Them.
- Rural Jails Turn to Community Health Workers To Help the Newly Released Succeed
- Rural Communities Face Primary Care Physician Shortage
- Miles for Milk: How Student-Run Grocery Store Reshaped Rural Community's Food Access
- Native Americans Have Shorter Life Spans, and It's Not Just Due to Lack of Health Care
- Promotoras Play Essential Role in Connecting Farmworkers with Health Care in Rural NorCal
- Across the Country, Amish Populations Are on the Rise
- Using Medicaid to Address Young People's Mental Health Needs in School Settings
- Sunsets, Wildlife and Limited Care: Challenges of Aging in Place in Rural America
- City-Country Mortality Gap Widens amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access
U.S. Surpasses 300,000 Million Dose Mark for COVID-19 Vaccination
The U.S. surpassed another milestone in its efforts to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that more than 300 million vaccines doses have so far been administered across the country. Even if the United States meets President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination goal for first doses by Jul 4, now less than a month away, at least 30 states will not hit the 70 percent mark among their own adult residents. One-dose vaccine coverage hit 63 percent.
Teen COVID-19 Hospitalizations on the Rise
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging parents to get their teenagers vaccinated against COVID-19 after an alarming spike in hospitalizations among young coronavirus patients. About 24 percent of kids ages 12 to 17 have received at least one dose. Before most were eligible for the vaccine, about one-third of teens who were admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 wound up in the intensive care unit, according to the CDC. Nearly five percent of those cases were put on respirators. None of the patients died. CDC Director Rochelle Walenksy said she is “deeply concerned by the numbers of hospitalized adolescents.”
HHS Secretary Warns COVID-19 Vaccines Must Be Free to Patients
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra on Wednesday warned providers they must administer COVID-19 vaccines free to patients. In a letter to providers and insurers, Becerra said providers cannot require patients to get additional medical services to receive a vaccine or charge them a fee if a vaccine dose is the only medical service they provide. Instead, they can bill Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance or other health coverage to cover the costs of administering a vaccine. They can also bill the Health Resources and Services Administration if patients are uninsured or underinsured.
Looking at “Easy Enrollment” for Pennsylvania Uninsured Residents
More than 700,000 Pennsylvanians are currently uninsured and many struggle to manage their health while maintaining economic stability. Some states have enacted a program called Easy Enrollment to increase access to coverage and streamline the process. Easy Enrollment utilizes state personal income tax returns. Individuals would be given the option to check a box if they or their family members lack coverage. The Department of Revenue would send their information, with consent, to Pennie. Pennie would then conduct an eligibility review. If a consumer is deemed eligible for Medicaid or CHIP, the information will be sent to the Department of Human Services for processing. Individuals deemed potentially eligible for Pennie will have a 60-day Special Enrollment Period to select a marketplace plan. The Pennsylvania Health Access Network (PHAN) has issued a policy statement for organizations to support this initiative. PACHC has already contacted PHAN to express their support for the initiative.
Record Number Gain Security of Coverage through ACA
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a new report that shows 31 million Americans have health coverage through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – a new record. The report also shows that there have been reductions in the uninsured rate in every state in the country since the law’s coverage expansions took effect. People served by the health insurance Marketplaces and Medicaid expansion have reached record highs. In the commonwealth, 315,334 Pennsylvanians effectuated ACA health insurance coverage in February 2021 and more than 913,000 accessed health insurance through Medicaid expansion, bringing the uninsured rate from 9.7 percent in 2013 to 5.8 percent in 2019. Pennsylvania is one of 39 states (including DC) to adopt Medicaid expansion. Read more.
House Health Committee Passes Nurse Compact Act
The House Health Committee passed SB 115 out of committee. The bill would authorize Pennsylvania to join the Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC). To date, 34 states are part of the NLC, which recognizes mutual agreement in the requirements of the professional licensure of nurses and reciprocity of license transfer between member states.
Senate Amends, Passes Resolution Ending Governor’s Emergency Declaration
Pennsylvania’s Republican-controlled legislature voted to end Gov. Wolf’s emergency declaration, while extending hundreds of regulatory waivers the administration approved over the past 15 months. On June 9, the Senate amended HB 854 to extend the waivers until Sept. 30, 2021 or sooner if the entity that issued the waiver terminates the waiver. This will give the legislature and the Governor time to negotiate which waivers to continue or terminate. The administration’s authority to revise mitigation orders, such as mask wearing, is not covered by the lawmakers actions.
WHO Declares Oral Health a Global Health Priority
Oral health may no longer be low on the list of global health priorities. At a May 27 meeting of the World Health Organization (WHO), health ministries around the world approved a resolution that puts achieving better oral health back on the global agenda. Click here to read the article.
USPSTF Final Recommendation: Behavioral Counseling Interventions for Healthy Weight and Weight Gain in Pregnancy
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a final recommendation statement on behavioral counseling interventions for healthy weight and weight gain in pregnancy. The Task Force found that clinicians can help pregnant people and their babies by offering effective counseling on healthy weight and weight gain throughout pregnancy. To view the recommendation, the evidence on which it is based, and a summary for clinicians, please go here. The final recommendation statement can also be found in the May 25, 2021, online issue of JAMA.
Three New HIV Reports from CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published three new reports using HIV surveillance data:
- Estimated HIV Incidence and Prevalence in the United States, 2015–2019
- Monitoring Selected National HIV Prevention and Care Objectives by Using HIV Surveillance Data—United States and 6 Dependent Areas, 2019
- Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2019
To improve data interpretation and utility, these reports all feature data from the same timeframe: 2015-2019. HIV prevention partners can use these reports to monitor trends, determine successes, identify gaps in HIV prevention, and help direct prevention efforts and resource allocation.