- 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
- NRHA Continues Partnership to Advance Rural Oral Health
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
- Q&A: What Are the Challenges and Opportunities of Small-Town Philanthropy?
Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Behavioral Health Care Support
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), announced the availability of $13 million in funding to increase access to quality behavioral health care services in rural America through the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program–Behavioral Health Care Support (RCORP-BHS). RCORP-BHS is a part of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP), a multi-year initiative administered by HRSA that has provided over $400 million in direct grants and technical assistance to rural communities addressing behavioral health care challenges, including substance use disorder since 2018.
All domestic public and private entities, nonprofit and for-profit, are eligible to apply for RCORP-BHS, including, but not limited to, Rural Health Clinics, community- and faith-based organizations, and Federally recognized tribes and tribal organizations.
Approximately 26 award recipients will receive $500,000 each per year for a four-year period of performance. During the course of the grant, RCORP-BHS award recipients will implement activities that are aligned with the following overarching program goals:
- Address structural- and systems-level barriers to improve rural residents’ access to quality, integrated SUD and other behavioral health care services.
- Improve the quality and sustainability of rural behavioral health care services through supporting rural health care providers to offer coordinated, evidence-based, trauma-informed SUD and other behavioral health care services.
- Improve the capacity of the behavioral health care system to address rural community risk factors and social determinants of health that affect the behavioral health of rural residents.
Award recipients are required to be part of a consortium of four or more separately owned entities and all services must be provided in HRSA-designated rural areas. Additionally, award recipients will submit a Behavioral Health Disparities Impact Statement during the period of performance that details how their project will address health disparities within their target rural service areas.
FORHP will hold a technical assistance webinar for applicants on Thursday, February 3, 2022 from 1 – 2:30 p.m. ET. A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend. For dial-in information, view the NOFO on Grants.gov, click the Package tab, then Preview, and Download Instructions; technical assistance information is on page (ii). You do not need to register in advance for the webinar. Please email ruralopioidresponse@hrsa.gov for a link to the recording.
Applicants can begin the RCORP-Behavioral Health Care Support application process on Grants.gov and apply by Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 11:59 PM, ET. Visit the Notice of Funding Opportunity for more information.
Increasing Female Dentists Improves Health Equity
A new study, Evaluating the Impact of Dentists’ Personal Characteristics on Workforce Participation: https://oralhealthworkforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/OHWRC-Evaluating-the-Impact-of-Dentists-Personal-Characteristics-on-Workforce-Participation-2021.pdf conducted by the Oral Health Workforce Research Center (OHWRC) at the University at Albany’s Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) builds on their previous work. A National Study of the Practice Characteristics of Women in Dentistry and Potential Impacts on Access to Care for Underserved Communities that suggested that “female dentists treat more children and more publicly insured patients than their male counterparts. The growth in the number of women in dentistry may expand the capacity of the delivery system to better meet the needs of the population, particularly the underserved.”
Oral Antiviral COVID-19 Therapies Update
In December, the FDA approved the first oral antiviral https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-first-oral-antiviral-treatment-covid-19 for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in adults and pediatric patients (12 years of age and older weighing at least 40 kilograms or about 88 pounds) with positive results of direct SARS-CoV-2 testing, and who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death. A limited number of FQHCs in Pennsylvania have begun to receive a supply of oral antivirals. Pennsylvania locations with oral antivirals obtained through the PA Department of health can be found at: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Prevention-Treatment.aspx#oral Scroll down the page and note there are separate links for Mulnupiravir providers and Paxlovid providers. Individuals can also search by address using this therapeutics map: https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/therapeutics-distribution In addition, around 200 health centers nationwide, including seven in Pennsylvania, have been invited to participate in the HRSA program to distribute oral antivirals. As supply increases, oral AVs should be a more accessible solution, but supply is currently very limited in both programs.
Effects of Virtual Care Delivery on Clinician Human Resources
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted the increased and widespread use of virtual health services, including telehealth, in health centers. Learn more about the effect that the rise in the use of this technology has had on clinician engagement through a STAR Center white paper. https://chcworkforce.org/web_links/effects-of-virtual-care-delivery/
CDC Study Confirms Vaccine Effectiveness
A recent study of more than one million people confirms that COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective against COVID-19-associated hospitalization and death. Highlights include that severe COVID-19-associated outcomes (0.015%) or death (0.0033%) were rare and nearly 80% of those who died had at least four risk factors. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7101a4.htm
Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal Open
The Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting portal is open for providers required to report on PRF payments during Reporting Period 2. The portal will remain open until Thursday, March 31. Learn more about reporting requirements at: https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing/reporting-resources
Marketplace Health Coverage 2022 Open Enrollment Period Ends
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced 13.8 million Americans enrolled in marketplace health coverage ahead of the Jan. 15 deadline. This includes more than 360,000 Pennsylvanians, 90% of whom are receiving financial assistance to pay for their monthly Pennie premiums, in part due to the American Rescue Plan. Forty-four health centers and partners are providing enrollment assistance to consumers with in-person, virtual and telephonic appointments. Pennie.com has introduced new resources and materials for assisters and consumers to better understand the enrollment process and plan selections: https://pennie.com/. Outside of open enrollment, consumers who experience a qualifying life event can enroll using a special enrollment period within 60 days of losing coverage. For more information and resources, please contact tia@pachc.org, Statewide Director, Outreach and Enrollment.
Congress Looks Towards Voting Rights, Government Funding as Progress on BBB Act Stalls
As progress on the Build Back Better (BBB) Act negotiations has stalled, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has shifted focus to voting rights. He has pledged to bring up a vote on amending the filibuster by January. 17, 2022, if voting rights reforms do not pass, but Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) continue to oppose filibuster changes. Congress must also pass another continuing resolution or an omnibus appropriations bill by February. 18, 2022. Negotiations over a compromise omnibus bill appear to be progressing as House Democrats are beginning to support a $740 billion defense spending plan, which is $25 billion higher than the President’s request. A compromise funding bill could also include supplemental funding to address the ongoing pandemic.
Pennsylvania Responds to Cries for COVID-19 Help
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the state is working to increase healthcare capacity to deal with the surge of COVID-19 cases. The Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency are coordinating the undertaking. The plans involve adding hospital beds within regions for 60 days to absorb patients from swamped hospitals. Additional medical support staff are to include physicians, respiratory therapists and registered nurses. Other staff will be sent directly to hospitals in need over the next three months. Certain nursing homes also will get additional beds, registered nurses and aides to allow hospitals in the area to discharge patients in need of long-term rehab or care more quickly, according to an Associated Press report.
USDA Seeks Applications to Improve Rural Transportation Systems
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small today announced that USDA is accepting applications to enhance the operation of rural transportation systems. These investments in rural transportation build opportunity and prosperity for the people who live in rural communities by connecting them to economic resources they may not otherwise be able to access.
The grants are part of the Rural Business Development program https://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/business-programs/rural-business-development-grants. Eligible applicants are qualified national organizations seeking to provide rural communities with training and technical assistance to improve passenger transportation services and facilities. USDA does not provide funding directly to individuals under this program.
USDA is offering priority points to projects that advance key priorities under the Biden-Harris Administration to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, advance equity and combat climate change. These extra points will increase the likelihood of funding for projects seeking to address these critical challenges in rural America.
Applications will be scored, reviewed, and selected on a competitive basis. Applications must be submitted to the applicant’s nearest USDA office by April 14, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. local time.