Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced the launch of an online portal to streamline the process for companies and other entities reporting data breaches impacting more than 500 Pennsylvania residents — which is required under Pennsylvania law beginning on September 26, 2024. Credit reporting companies, or other entities that hold personal data, must report data breaches to the Office of Attorney General, pursuant to the recent amendments to Pennsylvania’s Breach of Personal Information Notification Act (BPINA). Governor Josh Shapiro approved amendments to BPINA when a data breach affected more than 500 Pennsylvanians. The companies must also provide impacted individuals with 12 months of credit monitoring and access to a credit report, if the breach involves the person’s name and Social Security Number, bank account number, or driver’s license or state ID number. Click here to access the reporting portal.

In this episode, Jordan Berg, Principal Investigator for the National Telehealth Technology Assessment Resource Center focuses on applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in rural health care, as well as how patient information in an AI system is safeguarded.

A new feature article in The Rural Monitor explains the importance of succession planning for leadership at rural health care organizations.

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released factsheets, takeaway cards, and a new website related to the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan. The factsheets and takeaway cards are available in English Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.  The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is a new payment option in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 that works to assist Medicare beneficiaries with management of their out-of-pocket expenses by spreading copayments across the calendar year. Beginning in 2025, anyone with a Medicare drug plan or Medicare health plan with drug coverage can use this option. Additionally, an enrollee’s out-of-pocket spending for insulin and 10 other frequently used drugs will be capped at $2,000 per year. In March 2024, the Assistant Secretary For Planning and Evaluation released a report that estimates this cap will help enrollees who take high-priced drugs, including rural enrollees.

On September 13, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury released the final rule Requirements Related to the Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act. The rule finalizes standards for determining network composition and out-of-network reimbursement rates, adds protections against more restrictive, Non-Quantitative Treatment Limitations in coverage; and prohibits plans from using biased or non-objective information and sources that may negatively impact access to mental health and substance use disorder care. The rule will be published September 23^rd with an effective date of November 23, 2024.

This study from the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center describes the availability of care to increase comfort for patients with serious illness and identifies novel solutions for providing this essential care to rural communities.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center summarize available data on the challenges of providing obstetric services in rural settings, as well as clinical and policy efforts to improve access.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports on the change in commuting patterns between rural workers and urban areas and describes the impact on rural communities and economies.

The federal Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) provides information on mortality disparities due to overdose, suicide, and alcoholic liver disease/cirrhosis among people ages 15-64.  The report is a collaboration among ARC, East Tennessee State University Center for Rural Health Research, and the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis.

 The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the federal agency that examines how taxpayer dollars are spent, issued a new report on behavioral health benefit availability under Medicare and Medicare Advantage (MA) programs. The GAO reports findings on what beneficiaries pay out of pocket, and oversight by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of cost-sharing in MA plans for behavioral health services. Behavioral health conditions were estimated to affect at least a quarter of the 66.7 million Medicare beneficiaries in 2023.  The 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health estimated approximately 7.7 million nonmetropolitan adults reported having any mental illness (AMI) in 2023, accounting for 22.7 percent of non-metropolitan adults.