- CMS: Medicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction Model
- CMS: Secretarial Comments on the CBE's (Battelle Memorial Institute) 2024 Activities: Report to Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
- HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- HRSA Announces Action to Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Life-Saving Medications at Health Centers Nationwide
- Public Inspection: HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- Increased Risk of Cyber Threats Against Healthcare and Public Health Sector
- Eight Hospitals Selected for First Cohort of Rural Hospital Stabilization Program
- Announcing the 2030 Census Disclosure Avoidance Research Program
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- CMS: Medicare Program; FY 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
HRSA Adds New Oral Health Resources
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has added two new oral health resources to their website as part of the “A Healthy Mouth for Every Body” campaign. The new resources highlight the role of oral health during pregnancy and the relationship between oral health and nutrition.
Pennsylvania AHEC SEARCH Academy for High School Students Accepting Applications
Do you have any high school students in your life? Pennsylvania AHEC Students Exploring and Researching Careers in Health (SEARCH) Academy is accepting applications for 2024. This free virtual program gives students the chance to learn about a variety of careers from health professionals across PA. Students may attend one or all three sessions, which will take place on Wednesday evenings starting in October. The oral health professionals session will be November 6th.
Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Negotiated Prices Announced for IPAY 2026 Rollout
CMS has published the negotiated maximum fair prices (MFP) for the first drugs selected for negotiation for 2026. CMS reached agreement for new, lower prices for all 10 drugs selected for negotiations, which will be effective on January 1, 2026.
The following materials are available to support outreach:
- An updated IPAY 2026 fact sheet (email version below, also posted to the newsroom and published as a PDF)
- A plain language infographic about the program and the 10 price discounts
- A social media toolkit that can used to amplify this announcement: https://www.cms.gov/files/zip/social-media-toolkit-negotiated-prices.zip
CDC Publishes Collaborative Study on Alzheimer’s Disease, Related Dementia Diagnoses Among American Indian and Alaska Native Adults
The CDC recently released a collaborative study with the Indian Health Service (IHS), and the Alzheimer’s Association providing the first estimates of dementia among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations who receive health care services through IHS. This study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The study found 14% of IHS patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) were early-onset cases (below age 65). However, globally, only 9% of dementia patients have early onset of the disease.
Because the study is limited to AI/AN adults who used IHS health care, the findings cannot be generalized to the entire AI/AN population. The researchers note the rates of Alzheimer’s disease may be underestimated due to AI/AN individuals with private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid, or another health plan are not reflected in the IHS data unless they received care at an IHS facility.
This study provides baseline data to help IHS, CDC, and other public health and tribal partners in addressing ADRD in AI/AN communities. The findings emphasize the need to implement ADRD risk reduction strategies, to screen and diagnose ADRD in younger populations, and to enhance clinical and community-based services to support AI/AN adults living with dementia and their caregivers.
As part of the National Healthy Brain Initiative (NHBI), CDC offers a Road Map tailored for AI/AN communities as they develop a broad response to ADRD. The Road Map is accompanied by a suite of resources to support AI/AN communities such as a planning guide, a dissemination guide, infographics, flyers and more.
New Brief Published: Changes in Rural Pharmacy Presence 2023
Fred Ullrich, BA; and Keith Mueller, PhD
This data brief continues the RUPRI Center’s series of reports exploring the availability of retail pharmacy services in rural areas of the U.S. It provides information on rural communities that have kept, lost, or gained a retail pharmacy between 2018 and 2023.
Read the full report here.
Additional products:
- Update on Rural Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in the United States, 2003-2021
- Rural and Urban Pharmacy Presence – Pharmacy Deserts
For more information, contact
Keith J. Mueller, PhD; keith-mueller@uiowa.edu
Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
University of Iowa College of Public Health
Pennsylvania Action Coalition (PA-AC) Brand Refresh: Introducing the Pennsylvania Nursing Workforce Coalition
We are excited to announce that as outcome of the thorough strategic planning process that we engaged in over the past several months, we have a new 5-year strategic plan and we will be refreshing our brand as the Pennsylvania Nursing Workforce Coalition (PA-NWC)!
A few notes about this change:
- We are calling this a “brand refresh” and not a “rebrand” because we want to be clear that the components of our structure are not changing. This includes the PA-NWC’s functioning as a program of the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC), and our Advisory Board structure as a coalition with organizations as members and individual representatives.
- We look forward to strengthening our position as Pennsylvania’s Nursing Workforce Center. The PA-AC has “housed” Pennsylvania’s Nursing Workforce Center since 2016 when we became a part of the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. The “brand refresh” is just making this work more front and center.
- The PA-NWC will continue its strong relationship with the Future of Nursing reports and the Future of Nursing Campaign for Action. Our feedback expressed that one of our core strengths was our anchor in the national framework of the Future of Nursing’s goals and that our participants continue to feel connected to and inspired by its principles. Many other nursing workforce centers across the country are simultaneously their state’s Action Coalition and workforce center.
Learn more about our new strategic plan and the process that we followed at the link below! Stay tuned for additional materials and communications as well. We are excited to work with you in our new chapter as the PA-NWC
Federal Administration Seeks Input Into National Plan on Aging
The federal Administration for Community Level (ACL) is leading the charge to develop a National Plan on Aging and is seeking input from individuals and organizations who serve people of all ages, individuals who are caregivers, grandfamilies, and others. Please share this with your partners and encourage them to review the plan and submit comments at the National Plan on Aging Community Engagement Collaborative by September 15.
More information:
- Background and main page detailing the: Strategic Framework | ACL Administration for Community Living
- The StrategicFramework-NationalPlanOnAging-2024.pdf (acl.gov) document.
- Fact sheet (two-pager) on the Interagency Committee on Healthy Aging and Age-Friendly Communities ICC_FactSheet2024_508.pdf (acl.gov)
$3,600 In Spend, $600K In Savings at Pennsylvania’s WellSpan
WellSpan Health, a York, Pa.-based system with nine hospitals and more than 250 care locations, saved seven patients $600,000 in healthcare costs by allocating an extra $3,600.
The organization’s mission is to be the safest place for patients to receive care and for employees to work, according to Michael Seim, MD, chief quality officer at WellSpan. One facet of that mission is improving life expectancies and removing disparities for its 900,000 annual patients.
Within seven miles on one road in southeast Pennsylvania lies a 20-plus year difference in life expectancy, Dr. Seim told Becker’s. WellSpan works on numerous health equity programs — one of which recently won an American Hospital Association award — with many projects focused on health screening efforts.
One of these was a $3,600 salary expense for interpreters to contact Spanish-speaking patients who have delayed screenings. After successfully connecting with about half of the targeted population, WellSpan employees found seven new breast cancer cases.
“If you look at what the cost would be for delayed presentation — if they would advance one stage further [without being screened] — we calculated it would cost about $600,000,” Dr. Seim said.
That return on investment is more than a 20-fold increase.
The projected savings depend on each case, including whether patients have insurance or what type of insurance they have, he said.
Through targeted interventions, WellSpan has screened an additional 23,000 patients for breast and colorectal cancer in the last 18 months. The outcome was about 375 patients helped and 4,000 years of life added.
“Whether they’re in a value-based program or not, [with] the importance of screening and early detection, you can make a total financial argument that it’s a good place for health systems to invest,” Dr. Seim said. “And, it’s the right thing to do.”
Rural Patients’ Barriers to Care Access: 7 Notes
From Becker’s Hospital Notes
Researchers from the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the University of Utah, both based in Salt Lake City, found that 34% of rural patients said they have easy access to medical specialists.
The Community Health Assessment Survey is the first to focus on patients in rural and frontier areas, according to an Aug. 8 news release from the organizations. Rural counties have fewer than 100 people per square mile while frontier areas have seven people or fewer per square mile. More than 1,700 rural residents across five states participated in the survey.
Here are seven findings:
- About 48% of rural residents said they had seen a physician in the past year, compared to the U.S. average of 85%.
- Forty percent of rural women of the recommended age had never had a mammogram, compared to the national average of 22%.
- Nearly 88% of rural respondents said they knew little or nothing about enrolling in clinical trials.
- One-third of respondents said more telemedicine could help access to care, but only 81% have access to high-speed internet, compared to 91% of Americans nationwide. About 10% of rural areas said they did not have cell coverage.
- Sixty-eight percent people said they were not aware of programs to help pay for medical costs.
- Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they had difficulty accessing cancer screenings.
- Nearly two-thirds of respondents said increasing the number of visit specialists would improve access to care.
Bringing Health Care Back to a Rural Pennsylvania Community
Snow Shoe Township is a small, rural community of around 1,700 people in central Pennsylvania that lies approximately 30 miles north of State College. A former coal mining town, Snow Shoe has seen an economic decline over the years.
Then, in the span of one year starting in 2020, Snow Shoe lost its only grocery store, hardware store, bank, pharmacy and federally qualified health center. The only businesses left in town were a dollar store, pizza shop, post office, laundromat, and an outdoor and sporting goods store.
With the closure of the town’s health care facility and pharmacy, many of Snow Shoe’s aging residents, and others with health needs, were no longer able to access health care.
This led clinicians from the Penn State College of Medicine (PSCOM) to initiate conversations with local, state, federal, University and health system leaders to see what they could do to help area residents access basic health care needs. Through these conversations, they learned that the primary barriers to receiving health care were transportation and time constraints.
Without the ability to access basic health care services, clinicians from PSCOM and faculty members across academic colleges at Penn State collaborated to support the health and wellness of the residents in Snow Shoe and the surrounding community.