- 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?
Final Recommendation Statement Releases Screening for Eating Disorders in Adolescents and Adults
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) released a final recommendation statement on screening for eating disorders in adolescents and adults. The Task Force determined there is not enough research to make a recommendation for or against screening for eating disorders in those without signs or symptoms. To view the recommendation, the evidence on which it is based, and a summary for clinicians, please go here.
Million Hearts 2027: Prevention and Equity Begins in February
In February 2022, in a continued effort to improve cardiovascular health and outcomes, Million Hearts® launched their latest initiative, “Million Hearts® 2027.” This new initiative focuses on the goal of preventing one million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years. You can find the initiative’s highly detailed and evidence-based plan on the newly revamped Million Hearts website. These plans lay out the targets that they have set and how individuals of all professions can contribute. There will be three priority levels – Building Healthy Communities, Optimizing Care, Focusing on Health Equity. Learn more.
FCC Extends Application Deadline for Rural Healthcare Connect Program to June 1
The FCC has extended the application deadline for the Rural Healthcare Connect Program from April 1 to June 1. All rural FQHCs are encouraged to apply, as they are guaranteed to receive a 65% flat discount on an array of communications services, including internet access, dark fiber, business data, traditional digital service line (DSL), and private carriage services.
A Guide to Understanding J-1 Visa Waivers
The recently updated Rural J-1 Visa Waiver topic guide explains and points to resources related to the J-1 visa waiver, including programs that help rural communities recruit and retain international medical graduates to work and provide care in their healthcare facilities.
Americans are Drowning in Medical Debt
Americans owe at least $195 billion of medical debt, despite 90% of the population having some kind of health coverage, according to new research from the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation. People are spending down their savings and skimping on food, clothing, and household items to pay their medical bills. About 16 million people, or 6% of U.S. adults, owe more than $1,000 in medical bills, and 3 million people owe more than $10,000. The financial burden falls disproportionately on people with disabilities, those in generally poor health, Black Americans, and people living in the South or in non-Medicaid expansion states, per the research.
U.S. Funeral Assistance for COVID Tops $2 Billion
The federal government has provided more than $2 billion to help cover funeral costs for more than 300,000 families of people who died from COVID-19, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday as it launches a new campaign to raise awareness about the aid to eligible families. More than 965,000 people have died in the U.S. from the virus. The COVID-19 Funeral Assistance program provides up to $9,000 per funeral and covers COVID-19 related deaths since January 20, 2020. The average amount awarded per death is $6,500, according to FEMA.
Feds Set to Cut Monoclonal Antibody Supplies to States
Amid a congressional standoff over COVID funding, the federal government will delay buying “hundreds of thousands” of monoclonal antibody treatments and instead cut state allocations of the drug by 30% starting next week to stretch supplies, senior Biden administration officials said Tuesday. This is the first time administration officials are threatening pain in the form of cutbacks to the states if Congress doesn’t approve new COVID-19 response funding.
Municipalities are Tracking COVID through Wastewater
Did you know that data from wastewater can spot rises in COVID-19 infections and identify hot spots before they show up through positive tests? Pittsburgh and other municipalities are using this method for the real-time assessment of COVID-19 infection rates to augment the lagging indicators of reported cases and hospitalizations. Read more at Bloomberg here.
Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests Still Available
The Biden Administration continues to remind Americans that every U.S. household can order four more free at-home COVID-19 tests from the US Postal Service website here. In order to close gaps in COVID-19 equity across the commonwealth, the PA Department of Health is also providing OTC COVID-19 rapid tests at no cost and is seeking partners to help distribute tests in high-need communities. Partners can request tests via an online form. Any questions for the COVID-19 Testing Team may also be submitted using this form. Participating organizations must:
· Be able to receive delivery of and store tests on-site
· Determine test pick up times/dates, and local distribution strategy
· Communicate test availability to local vulnerable populations
Test quantity allocated is dependent on the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s supply on hand and submitting a request does not guarantee fulfillment. Priority will be given to sites that can access high-need populations and request fulfillment is limited to two requests per month.
Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage between Urban and Rural Counties have been Found
CDC’s new report shows that COVID-19 vaccination coverage with the first dose of the primary vaccination series was lower in rural than in urban counties, and disparities have increased nearly threefold since April 2021. Uptake of the booster and additional doses was similarly low in both rural and urban counties.