Walmart and UnitedHealth Group announced a 10-year partnership to offer healthcare services. They say that beginning in 2023, they will provide a range of affordable health services designed to improve care outcomes and the patient experience at 15 Walmart Health outlets in Georgia and Florida. They will then expand to other states. Among the offerings: is a co-branded Medicare Advantage plan in Georgia, called UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage Walmart Flex (HMO-POS). Walmart Health Virtual Care will be in-network for commercial members in UnitedHealth’s Choice Plus PPO plan.

Two articles published in the New York Times this past Saturday—including one on the front page of the newspaper—are generating extensive discussion and concern among policymakers, 340B stakeholders, and the media, and raising concerns that Community Health Centers could be “painted with the same brush” as the hospitals in the articles. The first article, entitled How a Hospital Chain Used a Poor Neighborhood to Turn Huge Profits, was featured on the front page under the heading “Profits over Patients.” It claims that the hospital used 340B to generate hundreds of millions of dollars, which it directed to facilities in wealthier neighborhoods areas while removing services from underserved neighborhoods. On Monday, NACHC sent a response to the Times stating, “Bon Secours has chosen to put profits over patients, and the community suffered as a result. Despite the tragic circumstances of this case, it is essential to note that 340B has been instrumental in expanding access to life-saving care in low-income communities. Community Health Centers rely on 340B to provide critical drugs to patients who are typically low-income, uninsured, and members of racial and ethnic minorities.” The second article, entitled “They were Entitled to Free Care. Hospitals Hounded them to Pay,” discussed how a large non-profit, 340B-eligible hospital system “trained staff to wring money out of patients, even those eligible for free care.” While the article did not explicitly mention 340B, some 340B opponents are linking the two articles together as examples of how 340B providers abuse the program.

A proposed rule by the Biden Administration would enhance equity by continuing to mandate healthcare-related protections for many populations that health centers serve, including LGBTQ patients, patients with disabilities, Medicare/Medicaid/Marketplace patients, and patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). This proposed rule changes Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability within health care settings, programs, and activities. The original rule was released in 2016 under the Obama Administration, providing regulatory authority to non-discrimination provisions within the Affordable Care Act. The Trump Administration made fundamental changes to the rule in 2019 that rolled back many protections from discrimination. Now, the Biden Administration is taking steps to restore and extend patient protections. NACHC created a customizable comment letter template to make sharing your support for these vital patient protections easier. Share your comments before the Monday, Oct. 3 deadline; submit them here.

Announced at the Sept ember 9 Pennie Community Workgroup, new system enhancements will be available beginning October 2022. Pennie plans to pilot a Live Chat feature and add organ donor and voter registration information to the end of the Pennie enrollment application. The Pennie system will also use current monthly income when assessing potential eligibility for Medicaid and CHIP. On previous applications, yearly income was used to determine eligibility. This change will result in a more accurate assessment of likely eligibility due to fluctuating income. To listen to the recording or view slides, click here.

In a new issue brief, the Commonwealth Fund explores how changing the benchmark plan might affect consumers’ deductibles and out-of-pocket limits and how those costs would compare to those in employer health plans. The benchmark plan refers to the second lowest-cost silver plan in the marketplace in each area or in the individual/family insurance market to define essential health benefits within that state for individual/family and small group plans. According to the researchers, “Modest changes like these could encourage more people to get the care they need and keep them from incurring medical debt.” Read more here.

FamiliesUSA published a white paper discussing the importance of Community Health Workers (CHW) and the need for sustainable funding to address health disparities. Community Health Centers employ CHWs to address enabling services, including disease-specific education, translation issues, transportation coordination, language services, enrollment assistance and other non-clinical services.

Congressional negotiators released the full text of the CR on September 27. After several weeks of debate, Congress decided to permanently extend the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) coverage for Volunteer Health Professionals. This is a big victory and will ensure that qualified Volunteer Health Professionals can continue providing critical primary and preventative care at health centers in communities impacted by natural disasters or provider shortages.

Acting Secretary of Health and Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson joined representatives from Feeding Pennsylvania and the Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Pennsylvania to showcase the Pennsylvania Healthy Pantry Initiative (PA HPI) program in action. This program has supported tens of thousands of pantry clients to increase their consumption of healthy foods by highlighting the healthy food choices within the food pantries, equipping clients with reliable and helpful information, and providing displays and storage equipment to showcase healthier options. Program materials include shelf talkers, signage, produce information, and recipe cards that are instrumental in food demonstrations, tastings, and nutrition classes hosted through local food pantries. In April 2022, PA HPI was added as a nationally recognized program offering a practice-tested intervention in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s SNAP-Ed toolkit. Click here to learn more.

The Rural Health Information Hub collaborated with NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis to create resources for developing, implementing, evaluating, and sustaining rural health literacy programs.