Almost three-quarters of all U.S. counties reported more deaths than births last year, a development largely caused by the pandemic, which contributed to a dramatic slowing in the nation’s overall population growth, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. Low fertility rates, which have persisted since the end of the Great Recession, and the nation’s continuing demographic shift toward an older population also combined to create the smallest population increase in 100 years. Read more.

Nearly 3 in 4 counties across America suffered more deaths than births between the middle of 2020 and the middle of 2021, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau, as the coronavirus pandemic claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and slowed the nation’s growth rate to its slowest pace in history. More people died than were born in 2,297 of the nation’s 3,143 counties last year, the largest number of counties to record a natural decrease in American history. The new figures show more than 3.4 million Americans died in the yearlong period covered by the new data; the highest number of deaths ever recorded in a single year. The figure is 20% greater than it was two years ago before the pandemic began.

As Pennsylvania prepares to transition to new Physical HealthChoices managed care organization (MCO) zone assignments effective July 1, 2022, MCOs new to a zone should be reaching out to providers to build their network and establish network adequacy. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) says that because all the future MCOs are current MCOs, there are no new contacts; there are only MCOs slated to leave the program (Aetna), to leave specific zones (United and Highmark) and to enter specific zones (Geisinger, HealthPartners). MCO contacts can be found in the HealthChoices MCO directory. The directory has all the contact information for all the plans and can be used with the list of selected plans for each zone.

The Penn State College of Medicine and the Pennsylvania Refugee Health Promotion Program are working to conduct the state’s first Refugee/Immigrant Health Needs Assessment. The goal is to work with resettled Nepali-speaking Bhutanese, Congolese, and Syrian communities to assess their perceived healthcare needs. Survey participants must identify with one of the aforementioned communities and be 18 years or older to participate. The goal is to collect data from around 150 participants from each community. Each participant who completes the survey will receive a $10 gift card via email to thank them for their time. The survey can be found here. For more information, contact Chandat Phan, President of the Global Health Interest Group, Penn State College of Medicine.

The U.S House of Representatives intends to vote on a bill later this week to cap the cost of an insulin co-pay at $35 for privately insured and Medicare patients. The bill, HR 6833, the Affordable Insulin Now Act, is an effort by Democrats to lower the rising costs of prescription drugs. After the bill moves through the House, the Senate plans to take up the bill and pair it with a yet to be determined bipartisan proposal that would target Pharmacy Benefit Managers to lower the price of insulin.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that it will release a request for proposals (RFP) on September 1, 2022, for a vendor to take over the state’s Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS). Implementation is targeted for Nov. 1, 2024. The commonwealth is procuring a new MMIS to replace its aging Provider Reimbursement and Operations Management Information System (PROMISe™). The state also plans to release a solicitation for an external quality review organization on July 1, 2022.