- GAO Seeks New Members for Tribal and Indigenous Advisory Council
- 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
Million Hearts® 2nd Edition Hypertension Control Change Package
Million Hearts® 2022, a national initiative co-led by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), strives to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes within five years by focusing on undiagnosed hypertension, cholesterol management, and tobacco use. The Million Hearts Hypertension Control Change Package published in 2015 has been updated. Click here to download the Hypertension Control Change Package. Don’t forget to visit the Million Hearts website.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Latino Health
This webinar brings together experts to explore the impacts of systemic racism and social and economic inequalities on the health and well-being of Latinos, and to provide effective strategies for addressing these challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The expert panelists discuss:
- The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Latino communities and how unemployment, uninsurance, immigration status and limited English proficiency have been the strongest predictors of COVID-19 cases
- The diverse history of Latinos in the United States and the need for more inclusion and representation of Latinos and other communities of color in clinical trials and studies
- How a health plan in Florida is partnering to implement community-based primary care to meet the cultural and linguistic needs of the diverse Latino population in the state
View the National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM) infographic on Latino health & COVID-19; available in English and Spanish. View NIHCM’s recent infographic and webinar on the impact of COVID-19 on the health of Black Americans.
FDA Issues Updates on Dental Amalgam
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided updated recommendations on Sept. 24, 2020 about the use of dental amalgam. The information potentially has a large impact on dentistry and public health dental programs. For more information, visit these links:
- Safety Communication
- Patient Brochure website
- Patient Brochure printable format
- Dental Amalgam website
However, the American Dental Association (ADA) News reported on Sept. 24, 2020 that the ADA “reaffirmed its position that dental amalgam is a ‘durable, safe and effective’ restorative material in response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Sept. 24 statement that existing evidence shows that dental amalgam is not harmful to the general population and treatment options should be thoroughly discussed by the patient and dentist.”
Where Potential COVID-19 Vaccines Stand in the U.S.
Four vaccines for the novel coronavirus are now in late-stage testing in people in the United States. Here are some details:
- Johnson & Johnson vaccine – The vaccine uses noninfectious adenovirus, a common cold virus, to deliver a gene from the novel coronavirus to human cells and produce copies of the SARS-CoV-2 protein, potentially priming immune cells to fight infection. The vaccine is being tested as a single dose and can be stored refrigerated for at least three months, potentially alleviating some of the concerns about the logistics of distribution.
- Moderna vaccine – Messenger RNA, genetic material carrying information about a viral protein, is delivered to cells that produce the protein, which the immune system is then trained to recognize. RNA vaccines are a newer technology, favored for their potential speed in development, but none have been approved for humans for any virus. The vaccine is being given in two doses and is stored frozen.
- Pfizer vaccine – This vaccine is also an mRNA vaccine being tested as two doses. It currently requires storage at -70°C (-94°F). Pfizer has an initial agreement with the U.S. government for 100 million doses if the vaccine is approved, with an option for 500 million more doses.
- AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine – Similar to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, this candidate is a viral vector vaccine but uses a different adenovirus. The vaccine’s trial in the U.S. is currently paused after a “suspected adverse event” in a participant in a U.K. trial of the vaccine. It is being given in two doses and is expected to require refrigeration.
Amidst growing public skepticism and distrust of vaccines, the FDA is planning to tighten requirements for assessing a vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, the Washington Post reported.
Pittsburgh School of Medicine Rewrites Hippocratic Oath
At the suggestion of one of the assistant deans at the medical school, the incoming students at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine decided to update their oath for the first time in the 137-year history of the school. As they rewrote it, it became more explicitly inclusive of all people, including those historically overlooked by the medical community. It was embraced full-heartedly by the administration. The oath, which was taken by the entire 149-member class last month, acknowledges the lives lost to COVID-19, the killings of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery, and the history of the “fundamental failings of our health care and political systems in serving vulnerable communities.” Read more.
Age Distribution of the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Changing
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an MMWR on the Changing Age Distribution of the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S. between May and August, 2020. A key finding is that during June-August 2020, COVID-19 incidence was highest in persons aged 20-29 years, who accounted for >20% of all confirmed cases. Strict adherence to community mitigation strategies and personal preventive behaviors by younger adults is needed to help reduce infection and subsequent transmission to persons at higher risk for severe illness.
HHS Announces Additional PRF Funding Available
HHS announced on Oct. 1 that it is making an additional $20 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) funding available to “frontline” providers — including those who have already received the full amount they were eligible for under the General Distribution. For FQHCs, this amount was two percent of 2018 net patient revenues. It is unclear how much any provider will be eligible for; it will likely depend on total requests received. HHS recommends that providers apply early, starting the week of October 4. NACHC and PACHC are working to learn more and will share more information as we can. Click here for a copy of the HHS press release.
Update on DHS Vision PPS Implementation
As reported earlier, the Department of Human Services (DHS) has issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin establishing a separate vision PPS rate, effective Oct. 1, 2020, as well as adding vision to allow for up to four FQHC encounters per day (now medical, dental, behavioral and vision). Here are some points on the new vision PPS:
- Health centers already offering vision services are to individually work with DHS on calculation of a vision PPS rate from the prior cost report.
- PACHC has shared the updated cost report template as an attachment to the weekly All PA FQHC CEO Call summary, as well as with health center finance leaders.
- The medical and dental provider productivity benchmarks have not changed in the new cost report template and Opthalmology is 3,599 and Optometry is 2,530.
PACHC is awaiting DHS’ decision on how payments will be made from Oct.1, 2020 until the vision PPS rate is established for health centers currently offering vision. For example, retroactive reconciliation back to Oct.1, 2020 or just start the new rate when it is calculated.
MEI Increases on the Way – DHS Says MCOs Should Not Delay
Each year, FQHC/RHC prospective payment system (PPS) rates are updated on Oct. 1 by the Medicare Economic Index (MEI). The Department of Human Services (DHS) has notified PACHC that the state is having a system issue with letter download to email and therefore email notifications to health centers might be delayed. That does not mean that managed care organizations (MCOs) should delay implementation of the MEI adjustments. Per DHS:
- The MCOs and Promise received the data extract last week, which is available now to the MCOs and is set up to be easily imported into the MCOs’ systems.
- For these mass MEI rate increases, DHS expects MCOs to implement the MEI increase using the data extract provided and not wait for the rate confirmation letter DHS sends to each FQHC/RHC.
- It is important to note that this is different than the process for interim to final FQHC rate changes for individual health centers. While these are also communicated to MCOs through a (quarterly) data extract update from DHS, DHS directs MCOs to use the official rate letter DHS provides to the health center as validation of the rate change.
Questions? Contact Julie Korick, PACHC COO/CFO.
Health Reimbursement Arrangements
In June 2019, the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services jointly published a final rule to expand the flexibility and use of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). An HRA is a group health plan funded solely by employer contributions that reimburses an employee’s medical care expenses up to a maximum dollar amount for a coverage period. HRA reimbursements are excludable from the employee’s income and wages for federal income tax and employment tax purposes. In addition to the employee, an HRA may also reimburse expenses incurred by the employee’s spouse, dependents, and children who as of the end of the taxable year, have not attained age 27.