- Weathering the Storm Together: Community Resiliency Hubs Hold the Promise of Local Self-Sufficiency and Supportive Mutual Aid
- Virginia Tech Researchers Bring Rural Families into the Nation's Largest Study of Early Brain and Child Development
- Expanding Access to Cancer Care for Rural Veterans
- VA: Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee, Notice of Meeting
- Scaling Rural Wellness with Clever Collaboration
- Stroudwater Associates Enhances Rural Healthcare Dashboard with New Data to Support State Rural Transformation Grant Applications
- Harvest Season Is Here: Busy Times Call for Increased Focus on Safety and Health
- HHS Dispatches More Than 70 Public Health Service Officers to Strengthen Care in Tribal Communities
- Wisconsin Rural Hospitals Team up to Form Network
- CMS Launches Landmark $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program
- American Heart Association Provides Blood Pressure Kits at Southeast Arkansas Regional Libraries to Support Rural Health
- Broadening Access to Minimally Invasive Surgery Could Narrow Rural-Urban Health Gaps
- Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together To Survive
- Help Line Gives Pediatricians Crucial Mental Health Information to Help Kids, Families
- Rural Health: A Strategic Opportunity for Governors
2026 KIDS COUNT® Data Book: PA Improves Child Well-Being Ranking; Federal Cuts Threaten Progress
Pennsylvania ranks 18th in child well-being in the 2026 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, a 50-state report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation that looks at how children are faring across the country.
The report shows Pennsylvania making slight progress or holding steady in several areas, but Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children is urging state and federal leaders to make sure that progress is not reversed.
For the first time, the Data Book includes a comprehensive score, from 0 to 1,000, in addition to state rankings. The score tracks 16 indicators across four domains: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors. Pennsylvania scored 626, above the national score of 547.
Pennsylvania improved among the indicators for economic well-being, health, and family and community, while its education ranking remained unchanged.
In health, Pennsylvania ranks 20th, up from 21st in 2023. The state also moved from 25th to 19th in the ranking for the percentage of children who are uninsured. However, that change reflects national trends in uninsured rates among children rather than a drop in the number of uninsured children in Pennsylvania. The state has 153,000 uninsured children, an increase from 2023.
That number is expected to continue to increase as changes to federal law are implemented, causing families to lose health insurance coverage.
Last year, Congress passed the largest cuts to Medicaid in the program’s history through H.R. 1, also known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill. The law is being implemented in stages, moving closer to major changes in a program that provides health insurance coverage for more than 1.2 million Pennsylvania children, or approximately 40% of the state’s child population.
Children who rely on Medicaid include those with special health care needs, children in the foster care system, children in rural areas, children from military families, and children in low-income working families.
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children’s interactive map series, H.R. 1: Mapping the Cuts, shows how cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will affect health care access, food security, and economic well-being across the state.
The consequences of H.R. 1 will reach into nearly every corner of family life, making it harder for children to get care, harder for families to put food on the table, and harder for communities to support them. This is a serious and immediate threat to children and families across Pennsylvania.
The Data Book also shows Pennsylvania ranking 19th in economic well-being, up from 22nd in 2023. In the family and community domain, Pennsylvania scored 674, a 96-point improvement from 2019. In education, Pennsylvania ranked 10th among states, but its score was 491, down 145 points from 2019.
The KIDS COUNT® Data Book is now in its 37th year. The report provides statewide data to show where progress is being made, where more support is needed, and which strategies are making a difference.
PPC President and CEO Kari King was interviewed by Public News Service and Spotlight PA on the Data Book release.
Pennie Enrollment Continues to Drop
Pennie, Pennsylvania’s Marketplace Insurance Exchange, has experienced a significant drop in enrollment, with 160,000 Pennsylvanians who had coverage in 2025 choosing not to continue in 2026. This includes 85,000 cancellations or terminations during Open Enrollment and another 75,000 cancellations since February. New enrollees have offset some of these losses, the trend shows a growing number of Pennsylvanian’s leaving the marketplace due to affordability will most likely become uninsured.
The decline is increasing, especially among lower-income individuals, older adults not yet on Medicare, and rural residents. Non-payment of premiums is a major factor, with lapses up 60% from last year and double from two years ago. Since February, Pennie’s total enrollment has fallen by over 40,000, despite starting 2026 with 486,000 enrollees. This will drive many to utilize hospitals for care instead of primary care providers for preventive care.
HRSA Launches Application Validation Assistant
HRSA recently announced the launch of a new Application Validation Assistant (AVA) tool to assist grant applicants with their grant submissions through Grants.gov.
AVA is available through the EHBs Grantee Portal and does not require an account or login. Applicants can upload a ZIP file containing application forms and supporting documents to check for common errors and compliance issues before submission. AVA helps with application errors related to Application type, Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), Grant number, Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) requirements, Place of Performance (PPoP) information, and attachment page-count limits.
The use of AVA may assist applicants with the completeness and accuracy of grant applications. For additional information about AVA, please see the Application Validation Assistant Wiki Help Page.
HRSA States New 340B Rebate Pilot is Coming; Request Comments on Updated Burden Estimates
HRSA published a document stating “HRSA’s Office of Pharmacy Affairs (OPA) intends to introduce a revised 340B Rebate Model Pilot Program (Pilot) as a mechanism for qualifying drug manufacturers… to effectuate the 340B ceiling price on a limited set of drugs.
OPA plans to publish a Federal Register Notice to notify 340B stakeholders of criteria and standards for implementation of the Pilot.” The document is officially an Information Collection Request, and HRSA is requesting public comments on its revised estimates on how much time covered entities will need to implement the rebate model. The new estimate is 5 hours per week per covered entity. Comments are due in 30 days. NACHC and others are working on putting together a comment template.
Note that HRSA only wants comments about the burden estimate – they have explicitly stated that they will ignore comments about the rebate model overall.
ARC Reports Second-Lowest Number of Distressed Counties in 20+ Years
The Appalachian Regional Commission’s (ARC) fiscal year 2027 economic status designations for Appalachia’s 423 counties are out now, with two improvements of note:
☝️ The number of counties at risk of being economically distressed dropped by five.
📈 The number of counties that are economically competitive with other non-Appalachian counties increased by four.
We use these designations to set grant match rates, monitor trends and direct investments to the region’s most distressed communities.
Work remains to ensure Appalachia’s economies can attain parity with others in the nation. Overall, 76 counties are designated as distressed, 85 as at-risk, 240 as transitional and 18 as competitive. Four counties have reached attainment.
CMS Request for Information on Essential Health Benefits
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing a Request for Information (RFI) to solicit public comment on a variety of topics related to Essential Health Benefits (EHB), including the regulatory framework and the statutory requirement under section 1302(b)(2)(A) of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that the scope of EHB be equal to the scope of benefits provided under a typical employer plan.
This RFI is intended to gather feedback on how the current EHB framework operates in practice, including considerations related to affordability, access to services, coverage gaps, and changes in medical evidence and scientific advancement.
CMS remains committed to a transparent, stakeholder-driven process and encourages stakeholders to submit comments during the 30-day comment period. The public comment period ends on July 15, 2026.
View the RFI here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/15/2026-11994/request-for-information-comprehensive-review-of-the-essential-health-benefits-framework-and-typical
Apply Now! HRSA Funding Opportunities Available
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently announced several funding opportunities across maternal and child health, HIV care, rural health, telehealth, primary care, and the health workforce. Visit Grants.gov for eligibility requirements, application instructions, and program-specific details.
Most opportunities have an application deadline of July 8 or July 10, 2026. Applications must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov and received by 11:59 p.m. ET on the applicable due date.
We encourage you to regularly check Grants.gov for new HRSA funding opportunities.
Click here for information for funding to support:
- Rural Health
- Maternal & Child Health
- Health Workforce
- Telehealth
- Primary Care
- HIV/AIDS
Information Released on Pennsylvania’s Summer EBT Program
Summer is a time when many Pennsylvania children may not have access to the free and reduced-price meals they get during the school year, and families might need a little extra help putting food on the table. SUN Bucks is a federal program that provides eligible children and families with a SNAP-like benefit to purchase food for the summer months when school is not in session. SUN Bucks provides a one-time payment of $40 per summer month ($120 total) per eligible child. Most eligible children will receive the benefit automatically and do not need to apply. Children are automatically eligible for SUN Bucks if:
- Their family already qualifies for SNAP or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF),
- Their family qualifies for Medicaid with qualifying income for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), or
- They applied for and are eligible to receive free or reduced-price school meals.
Households that need to apply to receive SUN Bucks benefits for Summer 2026 can find the online application and application forms on the SUN Bucks webpage. Families can use the SUN Bucks Eligibility Navigator to see if they need to complete an application. The deadline to apply for Summer 2026 SUN Bucks benefits is August 31, 2026. Applications received after this date will be considered for SUN Bucks 2027 next summer.
New Surgeon Releases General Advisory on The Harms of Screen Use
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Surgeon General released the Warning on the Harms of Screen Use: An Advisory and Toolkit on How to Protect Children and Youth to help communities address the risks associated with excessive and harmful screen time.
Please see the toolkit and HHS website for more information.
Pennsylvania Seeks Provider Input on Community Medicaid Managed Care Agreement
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), Bureau of Procurement and Contract Management, issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather input and information concerning the current Community HealthChoices (CHC) agreement for the anticipated reprocurement of the CHC managed care organizations (CHC-MCOs).
Specifically, this RFI seeks information to assist the Department in gathering stakeholder feedback on the CHC agreement prior to issuing a Request for Applications. Through this RFI, the Department hopes to become aware of and knowledgeable about stakeholder feedback regarding the current CHC program and any opportunities to strengthen the program for the benefit of participants.
The Department encourages all interested parties to provide feedback in response to this RFI or any part thereof.
Click here to learn more.