Providers Clinical Support System (PCSS), a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration-funded grant initiative has released Practice-Based Guidelines: Buprenorphine in the Age of Fentanyl. The guide gives practitioners a blueprint for treating fentanyl use disorder based on available research combined with emerging clinical experience on the use of buprenorphine in the treatment of individuals using fentanyl and other highly potent synthetic opioids.

Regulatory filings detail the timeline for Kaiser Permanente’s value-based care deal to buy Geisinger Health. The disclosures also reveal that millions of dollars will go toward expanding Geisinger’s payer and care services businesses.

A proposed class-action lawsuit alleges that it allowed tech companies to access private patient data for advertising purposes. The complaint, filed by a California patient known as John Doe, claims that the health system’s website and patient portal contained code that granted companies—including Google, Bing, Twitter, Adobe, and Quantum Metric—access to personal information. Kaiser joins a growing list of health systems being sued over their alleged sharing of patient information with tech companies via consumer-tracking technology. The complaint asks for damages and injunctive and declaratory relief. Kaiser Permanente is the health system awaiting approval of an acquisition of Pennsylvania’s Geisinger Health System.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a comprehensive guide on Medicaid School-Based Services. The guide offers new flexibilities and consolidates existing guidance, making it easier for all schools, no matter their size or the resources available to them, to deliver Medicaid-covered services. The CMCS informational bulletin provides an overview of the new flexibilities that are immediately available regarding school-based Medicaid billing, documentation, and claiming.

Nationwide, state-based marketplaces have been partnering with Medicaid agencies to prevent gaps in coverage if consumers no longer qualify for Medicaid. Developing effective communication strategies is key for Medicaid recipients, health center patients, and other vulnerable communities. The PA Department of Human Services (DHS) has worked with Pennie, Pennsylvania’s state-based marketplace, to ensure messaging and outreach strategies align during the Medicaid continuous coverage unwinding period which began April 1. This includes co-branded mailers for those not replying to their renewal packet. Pennie also meets with DHS on a weekly basis to share data, coordinate press tours and update partner toolkits. Other states have created a year-round Special Enrollment Period for individuals with income up to 250% of the Federal Poverty Level. Covered California has implemented a program that automatically enrolls individuals in a marketplace plan when they lose Medicaid coverage, while Pennie has an automated eligibility system that provides individuals losing Medicaid who are account-transferred with an eligibility determination and automatic special enrollment period. However, consumers must claim their account and select a plan to enroll. Since April 1, Pennie’s key focus has been operational activities associated with the unwinding. Thousands of applications have been received for consumers who exceed the income qualifications for Medicaid. Individuals in the initial unwinding group with Medicaid coverage ending at the end of April are now in their 60-day window where they can select a plan and have continuous coverage through retroactive coverage dates to May 1, 2023. The Pennie Community Workgroup meets the second Friday of each month to provide updates, enrollment activity, processes, and procedures specific to the transition of consumers from Medicaid to marketplace coverage.

Democratic candidate Heather Boyd easily won the special election to fill a House seat vacancy in Delaware County, allowing Democrats to retain their one-seat majority in the chamber. Boyd received almost 60% of the votes cast. Republicans held onto the seat in the 108th Legislative District as Michael Stender defeated Democrat Trevor Finn. That election was needed because former state Sen. Lynda Schlegel Culver, R-Northumberland, won a special election earlier this year to succeed former state Sen. John Gordner, R-Columbia. And more special elections are likely on the horizon as Rep. John Galloway, D-Bucks, won an election for district judge and Rep. Sara Innamorato, D-Allegheny, won the Democratic nomination to be Allegheny County executive.