Critical-access hospitals (CAH) will no longer be able to bill Medicare for telehealth services when there is not a public health emergency. For reasons not yet clear, the omnibus appropriations bill enacted last week excluded CAHs, which primarily serve rural areas, in the telehealth extension which extended Medicare coverage of telehealth for five months after the end of the public health emergency for several types of providers, including FQHCs.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is working with healthcare organizations to roll out a single login for patients to access their medical records across multiple systems, Politico reports. Twenty health care organizations are participating, including CVS Health, Kaiser Permanente, Providence, Cambia, and credential service providers including ID.me. The launch later this month will set up a test environment for integrating the technology; CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) will act as observers. In concept, healthcare organizations using the technology would allow patients who have proved their identity to access their health information from different systems in a single step.

U.S. House lawmakers have begun soliciting earmarks in next year’s spending bills under new guidelines Democratic leaders have circulated. After President Joe Biden’s signature last Tuesday on a $1.5 trillion fiscal 2022 omnibus package, House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), wrote to colleagues Friday outlining initial steps for members to obtain “community project funding” in fiscal 2023 spending bills. In the U.S. Senate, members have already begun soliciting earmark requests from constituents based on last year’s guidelines, though the rules in that chamber could still be tweaked. Interested in applying for “community project funding”? Visit the website for your Members of Congress, including both Senators, and look for information that they have posted about how to apply. Click here to find your U.S. Representative and your two U.S. Senators.

Health Outreach Partners (HOP), an HRSA National Health Center Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement awardee, presented a webinar focused on understanding the public transportation landscape and the importance of collaboration between transportation systems and health centers. Health centers assist consumers with transportation as an enabling service along with a translation, enrollment services, and other services used to augment patient care. HOP provides training, consultation, and timely resources for Community Health Centers, Primary Care Associations, and safety-net health organizations. Slides and recordings are available.

Coverage to Care (C2C) is an initiative, developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), to help consumers and patients understand health coverage and connect to health services to improve overall health and preventative care. These tools can be customized to boost health literacy efforts among patient populations. The relaunch of the program includes updated digital media, customizable resources, in-depth research materials, and metrics to help stakeholders and partners engage in meaningful outreach.

Last Friday, House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) sent an FY23 Dear Colleague letter to House Members. The letter states that Members have from April 4 to the end of April to submit up to 15 requests for FY23 community project funding or earmarks. Anticipated in the coming days and weeks are other submission deadlines from the Appropriations Committee in the House and Senate, with all deadlines subject to change. President Biden will likely release his FY23 budget request to Congress on Monday, March 28, 2022, including HRSA’s FY23 Health Center Program funding request.

The FY22 omnibus appropriations package signed into law last week did not include $15.6 billion in COVID-19 supplemental funding. The House wants to vote on a separate COVID-19 supplemental funding bill that would provide funding to reimburse medical providers for COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccines for the uninsured. According to the White House, if the bill does not pass, the Administration is “simply out of funding” for federal COVID-19 supplies and treatment resources. As a result, free COVID-19 treatments like monoclonal antibodies will become more expensive, and two antiviral drugs authorized to treat COVID-19 under emergency use will be unavailable commercially. Democrats and Republicans are still debating how to offset the supplemental funding, which Republicans indicate must happen for legislation to move forward. NACHC is elevating the importance of this funding to health centers and the patients you serve.

Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s administration shared details of the $225 million appropriations in Act 2 of 2022, which will support the health care workforce needs of hospitals and behavioral health providers, including $15 million to quadruple the funds available for the nurse loan forgiveness program at Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). This legislation received bipartisan support in the General Assembly, and Governor Wolf signed it into law in January. Funding will come from the federal American Rescue Plan Act and will be distributed to eligible hospitals and behavioral health providers across the commonwealth.