The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a final recommendation statement on screening for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents. The Task Force concluded that more research is needed to recommend for or against screening children and adolescents without signs or symptoms. To view the recommendation, the evidence on which it is based, and a summary for clinicians, please go here.

The American Lung Association’s Ask, Advise, Refer to Quit Don’t Switch (“Ask, Advise, Refer”) training is now being offered as a live, interactive, virtual workshop. This training is ideal for frontline healthcare professionals, patient navigators, nurses, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, clinical support staff, community health workers, and tobacco treatment specialists. The curriculum is based on the CDC’s AskAdviseRefer (AAR) model and utilizes updated tools and strategies for facilitating the routine assessment of tobacco use status and lung cancer risk and low-dose CT scan eligibility among all patients, delivery of brief advice to quit tobacco use, referral to a clinician for a shared-decision making an appointment for those identified as high risk for lung cancer and referral of tobacco users to evidence-based cessation programs such as Freedom From Smoking®. Click here for details and registration.

Patients who are new to telehealth may need additional support getting started. This page shares information with patients on the basics of telehealth, a video about types of telehealth, and the benefits of telehealth. Learn more.

AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, has released a notice of federal funding available for Public Health AmeriCorps through AmeriCorps’ State and National program. Earlier this year, the agency launched Public Health AmeriCorps, a $400 million American Rescue Plan partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to support the recruitment, training, and development of a new generation of public health leaders. The 2023 grants competition prioritizes programs working to address community public health needs, including health inequities exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic, and is open to nonprofit, faith-based, tribal, and community-based organizations; higher-education institutions; state, local, and territorial government entities, including local public health departments. Organizations that previously have not received AmeriCorps funding are encouraged to apply for these grants.

A new report from the Commonwealth Fund explains that the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program was created to allow safety-net hospitals and clinics to purchase outpatient prescription drugs at significant discounts so they could stretch their resources to serve more financially vulnerable patients. But as 340B continues its rapid expansion over the last two decades, the efficacy of the program in reducing patient costs has come into question, and pharmaceutical companies have stepped up their efforts to rein in the program. The document examines the reasons behind the program’s growth, the claims and counterclaims made by drugmakers and healthcare providers, and how federal regulators and Congress are responding.

A Texas District Court decision is raising questions about whether private insurers will continue to be required to provide PrEP and other preventive services for free. While the plaintiffs argued only against providing free PrEP, their arguments take aim at the constitutionality of the entire Affordable Care Act provision requiring free coverage of preventive services. While the decision will certainly be appealed, its immediate impact on insurance coverage for preventive services is not yet clear.

The child poverty rate was 27.9% in 1993, but fell to a record low of 5.2% in 2021, according to new census data. The child poverty rate has decreased in every state, and it has fallen by about the same amount for Black kids, White kids, Hispanic kids, Asian kids, immigrants, and kids in one- or two-parent households. “Fewer children growing up in poverty is good for the future,” says Renee Ryberg, a co-author of a new report from Child Trends that digs into the data. “It’s as simple as that.” Lower child poverty rates not only mean immediate improvements to the well-being of kids and families but there are also long-term benefits for society, like lower rates of crime, lower health care costs, and more tax revenue. Pandemic-era expanded government benefits, from stimulus checks to an expanded child tax credit, were major drivers in reducing child poverty in 2020 and 2021. Academics and advocates have raised concerns that some of those additional gains may be erased now that the expanded child tax credit has expired, however, many of the driving factors behind the drop in child poverty—lower unemployment, a rise in single mothers’ participation in the workplace and expansions of the safety net—are longer term.

HRSA posted a new Program Assistance Letter (PAL) focused on its Accreditation and Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition Initiative. HRSA offers HRSA-funded health centers support for these processes. The most significant update is that this PAL now extends support for PCMH recognition to look-alikes. This support includes certain fees associated with PCMH recognition, initial, renewal, and add-on surveys. The new PAL replaces PAL 2015-02 (published in 2015). Other changes in this PAL align with changes from HRSA partners since that date. For example, the PAL includes current schedules for renewals of accreditation and PCMH recognition.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) has revised its prioritization criteria for Monkeypox (MPX) vaccinations and has issued guidance on PEP/PrEP. The guidance documents—Best Practices (Intradermal Injection), Vaccine Provider Sheet, and MPX Vaccination Framework—have been updated and the revised criteria have also been shared with local health departments.

Section 317 funding, which refers to Section 317 of the Public Health Service Act, which authorizes the federal purchase of vaccines to vaccinate children, adolescents, and adults, has been extremely tight, thus limiting many orders. Per the PA Dept. of Health, the following outlines the status of 317.

• We are currently out of all remaining 317 funds through the end of the current vaccine budget year ending September 30. We have no 317 vaccines available to distribute. Our vaccines budget follows the federal fiscal year which is from October 1 through September 30^th. Although 317 funds are extremely limited, we are not experiencing any limitations with our VFC funds nor do we anticipate any issues.
• We will continue to offer all vaccines in the new budget year from October 1 – September 30 but vaccines will continue to be limited. Our 317 funding has been static the last few years, and like everything else, vaccine costs have gone up. With the same overall budget, unfortunately, that means that we have to offer fewer vaccines overall to account for the increased cost. This also means that most likely, funds will run out within the first two weeks of each month.
• We ask that when ordering 317 vaccines, please order the minimum amount needed to get through each month as quantities of everything will be limited. Most 317 vaccines are orderable in 10 doses minimum quantities aside from the following below:

Orderable in 5 dose quantities:

• Heplisav-B (Hep B)
• MenQuadfi (MCV4)
• Menveo (MCV4)
• Adacel (Tdap) – syringes only

Orderable in single dose quantities:

• Td (all brands)
• PPV23 – Pneumovax 23
• Bexsero
• Shingrix (NDC: 58160-0819-12)
  • Shingrix will be extremely limited as availability for next year was cut in half due to costs. We will only have 50 doses per month available to distribute amongst all providers. Order limits will continue to be limited to no more than 5 doses. Providers will not be guaranteed to get this vaccine each month. Ordering for this vaccine will be tracked as demand is higher than availability. If an order is filled for one particular provider one month, it may be 2-3 months before another order gets approved again for the same provider.

• Currently, there are no imposed limits on the other vaccines but that could change if warranted.

DOH has been told that extra funds to help with their 317 programs will become available, however, a date has not been determined. Questions regarding 317 can be directed to RA-pavfc@pa.gov