The COVID-19 pandemic has made for a continually changing workforce environment. Companies are adapting their practices and policies to support their staff by offering flexible paid and unpaid leave policies, reimbursing remote-work expenses and giving access to tools for managing stress and improving mental health. Employers are also providing on-going support for employees to help them understand and maximize their benefit package. Click here for more information and recent survey results from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP).

Millions of COVID-19 survivors worldwide–even those who had mild illness–are reporting long-term symptoms months later, including brain fog, persistent exhaustion and lung, heart or kidney damage. For too long, these long haulers, as they call themselves, have not been taken seriously enough by providers and researchers according to some doctors, adding that there’s an urgent need for dedicated research in order to treat patients with lingering symptoms. Many providers and healthcare systems initially dismissed the symptoms as related to something else, but growing evidence points to SARS-CoV-2 as the culprit in many cases. More research is needed to determine the full long-term effects.

Marcella Nunez-Smith, chair of President Biden’s COVID-19 Equity Task Force, told press and advocates during a January 28 White House health briefing that outreach to communities of color, people with disabilities and other marginalized groups will be a priority for the administration’s COVID-19 response. Black, Latino and Native Americans have disproportionately suffered higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death since the beginning of the pandemic, with the national death rate of Black patients reaching twice that of White patients last summer. Some distribution data suggest vaccine uptake is currently almost twice as high among White people on average than Black and Latino people despite the disproportionate morbidity and mortality rates.

Capital Link has issued a new report providing a national picture of health center revenue loss, COVID-19-related expenses, the influx of relief funds through Dec. 31, 2020 and the estimated funding gap, based on the 15-month period from April 2020 through June 2021. Results show that the nation’s more than 1,400 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) experienced a 26 percent decline in patient visits between April and December 2020, as patients complied with stay-at-home orders. Without additional support to cover the identified $5.5B shortfall through June 2021, many health centers sites will remain closed, and 29,000 staff may be laid off or furloughed and 66 percent of FQHCs will drain cash reserves to dangerous levels.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a fifth amendment to the PREP Act Declaration (not to be confused with PrEP for HIV) under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) to add additional categories of qualified persons authorized to prescribe, dispense, and administer COVID-19 vaccines. And in Pennsylvania, there is a document from October 2020 that actually delineates who can administer COVID-19 vaccines, including dental providers. However, there are protocols that need to be followed in order to do so.

President Biden announced his comprehensive National Strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The President announced that starting next week, the first phase of the federal pharmacy program will launch and select pharmacies nationwide will start offering vaccinations for their communities. These new steps will help meet the President’s goal of administering 100 million shots in 100 days and expand access to vaccines to more Americans in the coming weeks.

• Expanding Vaccine Supply: The Biden Administration will increase overall weekly vaccine supply to states, Tribes, and territories to 10.5 million doses nationwide beginning this week, a 22% increase since taking office on January 20.
• Launching First Phase of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination: Starting on February 11, those eligible for the vaccine will have the opportunity to be vaccinated at select pharmacies across the country through this program, a public-private partnership with 21 national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies representing more than 40,000 pharmacy locations nationwide. As the first phase of this program launches, select retail pharmacies nationwide will receive limited vaccine supply to vaccinate priority groups at no cost. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) worked with states to select initial pharmacy partners based on several factors including their ability to reach some of the populations most at risk for severe illness from COVID-19. More information is available at cdc.gov/covid19.
• Increasing Reimbursements to States: President Biden already directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fully reimburse states for the cost of National Guard Personnel and emergency costs, will also retroactively reimburse states fully for FEMA-eligible services and is requesting $350 billion from Congress in American Rescue Plan.

Pennsylvania’s initial map of places that may have COVID-19 vaccine was fraught with challenges. The state Department of Health’s map used green dots to indicate which health care providers had it in stock and red dots to indicate that vaccine was on its way to that location. As of Tuesday afternoon, the map contains only blue dots, which indicate providers that are part of the program to distribute COVID-19 vaccine. Click here to access the Vaccine Provider Map. Note – Philadelphia County is a separate vaccine jurisdiction and has their own information about vaccine distribution.

As the state continues to get vaccine to Phase 1A-eligible Pennsylvanians, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and Pennsylvania Secretary of Aging Robert Torres highlighted some of the community-based solutions that are working to help Pennsylvanians 65-plus access the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We need to foster these community-based solutions,” Gov. Wolf said. “Every community in Pennsylvania has unique needs and challenges, but we can learn a lot from listening to one another and lifting up creative solutions that are making a difference in the state’s vaccination efforts.”

Acknowledging that vaccine distribution has been slower than anyone would prefer and can be frustrating for Pennsylvanians, the governor noted that making a direct comparison between states is not an accurate reporting.

“Every state is different and has different needs, just like every community in Pennsylvania has different needs,” Wolf said. “Pennsylvania has one of the largest populations of older adults in the nation, but we’ve received an allotment of just over 150,000 vaccine doses a week so far from the federal government, which provides all the vaccine the state receives. Still, we are making progress with more than 1.4 million Pennsylvanians receiving one or both of their vaccine doses to date.”

With restricted supplies, the state and communities are working to meet unique challenges and present solutions to help more people get vaccinated.

Throughout the commonwealth, adults age 65 and older are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine now in Phase 1A. Older adults in long-term care are getting the vaccine through the facility where they live through the Federal Pharmacy Partnership, but there are thousands of other Pennsylvanians 65 and older who live on their own or in senior housing or other settings that don’t qualify them for the long-term care vaccine program.

Not every older adult has access to the Internet or, if they do, may find it challenging to go online to find providers in their area who have received vaccine, and even more challenging to navigate online appointment portals. Some need someone to help them navigate the process.

The Department of Health launched the Your Turn vaccine eligibility tool that gives anyone who signs up a reminder when it is their turn to receive the vaccine and guides them how seek an appointment from a local provider.

Older adults who have questions about vaccine availability in their community and how to make an appointment may also call the Department of Health hotline at 1-877-724-3258 to get help.

Efforts to get more eligible people vaccinated are taking place on the local level, too. Sec. of Aging Robert Torres joined the governor to outline what local Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) and his department are doing to provide unique, working solutions to Pennsylvanians 65-plus.

“Since the first case of COVID-19 was announced, Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) have helped to ensure that the needs of older adults are being met,” Sec. Torres said. “Now, AAAs and their community partners are responding to the call to help older adults navigate the COVID-19 vaccination process.”

Depending on capacity and resources, AAAs are:

• Coordinating with their local health care providers, county government and EMS
• Providing guidance and support
• Assisting with scheduling
• Arranging transportation
• Offering senior centers to serve as vaccine clinics, and
• Participating in county COVID-19 planning commissions

Torres detailed the successful work of the Butler County Area Agency of Aging, which has been part of the county’s COVID-19 Planning Commission since the beginning of the pandemic, and that is working now with local vaccine providers to help those 65-plus obtain vaccine appointments. The AAA also is providing information, coordinating transportation and even helping at vaccination sites to ensure those receiving the vaccine aren’t having any immediate side effects.

“Butler County AAA has helped more than 1,200 older adults obtain vaccine appointments and is ensuring that forms are completed in the system for the older adult,” Torres said. “The vaccine appointment no-show rate for these older adults is zero percent.”

AAAs also enlisted community senior center workers to help with appointment reminders and coordinating transportation, or just to check how someone is feeling post-vaccination.

Torres also outlined how PACE, Pennsylvania’s low-cost prescription program for older adults, has launched a comprehensive assistance and outreach effort to help its 275,000 PACE/PACENET enrollees obtain vaccines.

PACE designated a team of phone operators in its Harrisburg Call Center to serve as the COVID-19 Special Scheduling Unit — a dedicated unit for arranging vaccinations for PACE cardholders.

These operators will also be working with cardholders to arrange for transportation to the vaccination site or working with PACE’s pharmacy network members to vaccinate at a cardholder’s residence, if necessary.

For older adults who don’t have access to a computer, PA Link to Aging and Disability Resources, which connects older adults and adults with disabilities to services and technical supports, is also stepping up to take calls and offer assistance.

When people call the PA Link for help with getting a vaccine, PA Link counselors will assess the caller’s situation, offer guidance and transfer to a scheduling team. For those callers with transportation needs, the Link counselors will also be able to contact PA Link partners and AAAs at the local level to assist with coordinating local transportation. The PA Link number is 1-800-753-8827.

“Community-based solutions like these are being developed every day, and my administration is working to support them,” Gov. Wolf said. “We’ll continue to lift up successes so that communities across the commonwealth can learn from one another, but we can’t expect a cookie cutter approach. Every community is different, and the solutions that work in Butler County may not be the ones that are most needed in Luzerne County or any other county in the state.

“We can overcome the challenges before us by improving collaboration and coordination, and we should leverage the knowledge and experience of the people who know their communities best. Thank you to all of these dedicated, hardworking people at the Area Agencies on Aging and the Department of Aging. Your work is saving lives.”

Medicare wants to help protect you from COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), older adults and people who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney disease seem to be at higher risk for more serious COVID-19 illness. This means that people with Medicare may be at higher risk. Medicare covers:

• Lab tests for COVID-19
• FDA-authorized COVID-19 antibody (or “serology”) tests
• Monoclonal antibody treatments for COVID-19
• COVID-19 vaccines

For the latest information about:

• How Medicare is helping during this public health emergency, go to Medicare.gov/medicare-coronavirus. 
• COVID-19 prevention, symptoms, and answers to common questions, go to Coronavirus.gov.
• Public health and safety information from CDC, go to CDC.gov/coronavirus.

What the U.S. Government is doing in response to COVID-19, go to USA.gov.

New / Updated Training Materials

2021 Medicare Amounts job aid (in multiple languages)

2021 Medicare Appeals Processes job aid

The CMS National Training Program has training materials for many Medicare topics, including PowerPoint modules that can be customized for your audience. Check them out at CMSnationaltrainingprogram.cms.gov.

NTP Webinar Recordings

January NTP Medicare Update & Education Webinar (Recorded January 14, 2021): We shared Medicare updates, tips for training preparation, and demonstrated how to use our NTP website to maximize your Medicare training experience.

January 2021 Understanding Medicare Webinar Day 1

January 2021 Understanding Medicare Webinar Day 2

To view all of our webinar recordings, please visit the NTP website.

Did You Know?

• As the country is distributing COVID-19 vaccines, scammers are taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic. Learn tips to help prevent Medicare fraud and report suspected Medicare fraud by calling us at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048.
• February is American Heart Month. Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) covers cardiovascular screening blood tests once every 5 years.
• The 2021 Federal Poverty Levels are published.
• You can find the latest information by visiting the CMS Newsroom.