The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is eyeing population-based payment models aimed at increasing care coordination between primary care physicians and specialists, according to its updated strategic vision for value-based care. Other initiatives include accountable care organization (ACO) models that increase primary care access for Medicaid members, specialty-focused models, and improved ways to measure ACO results. Read More.

Final-form rulemaking published on November 4, 2022, Pennsylvania Bulletin will increase the application fees and biennial renewal fees for all license, certification, and permit types issued by the Pennsylvania State Board of Dentistry. The fee increases were initially proposed for 2021 but were delayed because of the pandemic’s impact on dental practices; the fee increases now commence on Nov. 5, with increases occurring on a graduated basis over three renewal cycles. All state boards are required by law to establish fees that cover the cost of operations of the board. Access the final rule and newly established schedule of fees here.

Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an update to the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) COVID-19 data snapshot. This preliminary data compares April 2022 to February 2020 and shows overall enrollment in Medicaid and CHIP increased by 20%. Information on COVID-19-related service utilization by beneficiaries includes data on COVID-19 testing, treatment, service use among those 18 and younger, telehealth, mental health, and other services.

Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal and Sara Collins, VP of Health Care Coverage authored an op-ed discussing the underlying causes of inadequate health insurance and the sky-high cost of healthcare. Introducing and enforcing price transparency and reforms promoting value in healthcare would slow growth in spending and provide short-term relief. Legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act premium subsidies becoming permanent could aid in alleviating some of the consumer pain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is issuing a Health Alert Network (HAN) Health Advisory to emphasize the importance of following existing recommendations for maintaining and monitoring dental waterlines. Multiple outbreaks of nontuberculous Mycobacteria (NTM) infections have occurred in children who received pulpotomies in pediatric dental clinics where the dental treatment water contained high levels of bacteria. CDC provides guidelines on infection control in dental settings, which contain recommendations to treat dental unit waterlines and monitor water quality. Dental providers should be familiar with these recommendations on how to properly maintain and monitor their dental equipment to ensure that dental treatment water is safe for patient care.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is soliciting applications for the $80 million DOL Nursing Expansion Grant Program. Community Health Centers are among the organizations eligible to apply. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will address bottlenecks in training the United States nursing workforce and expand and diversify the pipeline of qualified nursing professionals through two training tracks. The first track (Nurse Education Professional Track) will increase the number of clinical and vocational nursing instructors and educators by training new or upskilling experienced current or former nurses (including retired nurses) into advanced postsecondary credentialing necessary for nurses to become clinical and vocational nursing instructors and educators. The second track (Nursing Career Pathway Track) will train frontline healthcare professionals and paraprofessionals, including direct care workers, to advance along a career pathway and attain postsecondary credentials needed for middle- to high-skilled nursing occupations during the grant period of performance. Read the FOA.

The Pennsylvania Primary Care Loan Repayment Program is now open for applications with a deadline of Dec. 14, 2022. Apply for loan repayment. Full-time and half-time two-year contracts are eligible. Physicians, dentists, and psychologists are eligible for up to $80,000 full-time and $40,000 half-time. Other practitioners are eligible for up to $48,000 full-time and up to $24,000 half-time. Eligible participants include MDs and DOs in Family Medicine, General Internal Medicine, General Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Obstetrics/Gynecology, and Psychiatry; CRNPs in Adult, Family, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Women’s Health, Mental Health/Psychiatry); General Dentists; Registered Dental Hygienists; Public Health Dental Hygiene Practitioners; Certified Nurse Midwives; Physician Assistants (Adult, Family, Pediatrics, Geriatrics, Women’s Health, Mental Health/Psychiatry); Licensed Clinical Social Workers; Licensed Professional Counselors; Marriage and Family Therapists; and Psychologists.

Three major retailers – CVS, Walgreens and Walmart – have tentatively agreed to pay at least $12 billion to settle a number of lawsuits brought by states and local governments alleging the retailers mishandled prescriptions of opioid painkillers, according to reports from Bloomberg and Reuters. Read more.

Modern Healthcare reported on Oct. 20, 2022, that nearly 334,000 providers left the healthcare workforce in 2021, driven by burnout and concerns related to the pandemic, according to a report by Definitive Healthcare. About 117,000 were physicians, 53,000 were nurse practitioners, and nearly 23,000 were physician assistants. Read more.