In an op-ed, state Rep. Tarik Khan explains how Democrats in Harrisburg are working to protect access to health care. Rep. Khan is a nurse practitioner with a Ph.D. in nursing research from the University of Pennsylvania and works for Family Practice and Counseling Network, a CHC in Philadelphia.

Congressman Brendan Boyle (PA-02) held a press conference this week to sound the alarm about the catastrophic consequences that the proposed Medicaid cuts would have in Philadelphia. He was joined by Susan Post, Chief Executive Officer of Esperanza Health Center, and Suzanne O’Grady Laurito, Director of Catholic Housing and Community Services at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. “In the geographical area that Esperanza takes care of, which is about a three-mile radius from here, we have a population that’s almost 400,000 people. And of those 400,000, almost 200,000 of them rely on Medicaid insurance for all of their health care needs,” said Susan Post, Chief Executive Officer of Esperanza Health Center. Learn more.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) administers relief grants to states, territories, and tribes to address behavioral health needs post-disaster through community-based outreach, crisis counseling, public education, and other supportive services.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds the program as support for mental health assistance and training. Learn more about how a disaster gets declared at the federal level and search FEMA’s list of disasters and other declarations.

Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a series of loans and grants for community facilities, businesses, water and infrastructure, and housing.

Starting January 1, 2025, eligible providers may use a new payment bundle for Advanced Primary Care Management (ACPM) that reflects the essential elements of advanced primary care, including principal care management, transitional care management and chronic care management.  ACPM services combine elements of several existing care management and communication technology-based services

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) updated the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual Chapter 13 for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) with Calendar Year 2025 requirements and payment policies.

In this final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implements changes related to Medicare Advantage (MA) inpatient admission decisions, vaccine and insulin cost sharing, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, Medicare Advantage dual eligible special needs plans (D-SNPs), Star Ratings, and other programmatic areas. CMS is not finalizing three provisions from the proposed rule:

• Enhancing Health Equity Analyses: Annual Health Equity Analysis of Utilization Management Policies;
• Procedures and Ensuring Equitable Access to Medicare Advantage Services—Guardrails for Artificial Intelligence; and
• Part D Coverage of Anti-Obesity Medications (AOMs) and Application to the Medicaid Program.

There are other provisions from the proposed rule that are not included in this final rule. CMS may address them in future rulemaking, as appropriate.  As of January 2023, about 45 percent of rural Medicare beneficiaries were enrolled in an MA plan.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated their Hospital Price Transparency Fact Sheet with information on compliance and enforcement. Under Hospital Price Transparency, all hospitals, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs), and hospital-based departments – which may include some Rural Health Clinics – are required to post pricing information about the items and services they provide on a publicly available website. CMS audits hospitals and investigates complaints from the public to ensure compliance. They also leverage automation to perform over 200 comprehensive hospital reviews per month. Consistent with standing policies, CMS will address non-compliance with swift enforcement, and they are planning a more systematic monitoring and enforcement approach, per the Executive Order.  A variety of resources are available to help hospitals, CAHs, and REHs comply with these requirements.