The National Governors Association has released The Future of State Telehealth Policy. The document provides an overview of state and federal telehealth flexibilities implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses long-term considerations for governors regarding the impact of these flexibilities on healthcare delivery and payment and the appropriateness of these policies in the future.

This new initiative aims to increase access to employment through training, education and dedicated support from UPMC staff. Recognizing the growing unemployment impact Pennsylvanians are experiencing due to COVID-19, Pathways to Work makes a concerted effort to engage individuals in the community who are unemployed or underemployed and those with an intellectual, physical or behavioral disability who are looking for employment and no-cost job training programs. Interested individuals can email pathwaystowork@upmc.edu and they will receive a response within 1-2 business days from one of UPMC’s Pathways recruiters. Health centers are urged to share and promote this within the communities you serve to help mitigate some of the impacts of the pandemic.

Almost every county in Pennsylvania is now facing “substantial” spread of the coronavirus, according to the Wolf administration. A positivity rate of five percent or more is an indication of troubling community spread and Pennsylvania’s positivity rate has jumped to 11.7 percent, with the rate in some individual counties climbing above 20 percent. The only county not seeing a positivity rate of greater than five percent is Forest County. To date in Pennsylvania, more than 360,000 people have contracted COVID-19 and more than 10,300 deaths have been tied to the virus. Read more.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has released a new document, COVID-19 Laboratory Testing FAQs. This is a good resource for labs and employers who would like to incorporate COVID-19 tests into their protocols.

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Representatives have proposed a $908 billion coronavirus relief package that they are hoping is used as a basis for jumpstarting negotiations between the House and Senate. The proposed package calls for significantly less funding than the House had previously demanded and more than the Senate’s latest package. The framework includes $160 billion for state and local government aid, $180 billion in additional unemployment insurance, $288 billion for the small business Paycheck Protection Program, and short-term federal protection from coronavirus-related lawsuits, among other things. Senator McConnell has circulated his own framework for stimulus legislation to Republican members that would establish a fresh round of funding for the small-business Paycheck Protection Program and implement widespread liability protections. The liability protections have been a non-starter for Democratic leadership in the House.

Gov. Tom Wolf vetoed legislation, HB 1737, that would have provided limited liability protections to Pennsylvania businesses, arguing the bill “invites the potential for carelessness and a disregard for public safety.” The legislation, which was passed by the General Assembly earlier this month largely along party lines, would have shielded businesses–as well as schools, child care providers and personal protective equipment manufacturers and individuals using PPE–from civil lawsuits related to COVID-19 exposure.

The Wolf administration announced additional testing sites across Pennsylvania. The PA Department of Health entered a contract with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare (AMI) to provide COVID-19 testing in five regions across Pennsylvania to help contain local spread of COVID-19. Over the next 12 weeks, five strike teams will provide regional testing open to anyone who feels they need a test in the 61 counties that don’t have a health department. Up to 450 patients can be tested per day at each location using mid-nasal passage swab PCR tests. Testing is on a first-come, first-serve basis and is completely free to all patients. Click here to learn more about the testing plan and when AMI will be in your county.

Governor Wolf signed the Fiscal Year 2020-21 state budget. The budget included the use of the remaining $1.3 billion in CARES Act funding to offset General Fund budget items–mostly wages for front line workers, like those of the Departments of Health and Corrections, along with an improved revenue situation and continuation of enhanced federal matching payments for the state’s Medicaid program helped to close the budgetary gap left by the impact of COVID-19 and mitigation efforts to slow the virus spread. Funding for the Pennsylvania Primary Care Practitioner Program line item remained at the same funding levels as the previous year.

With two vaccines queued up for FDA approval and distribution beginning as soon as mid-December, planning efforts are kicking into high gear. The state Vaccine Crisis Committee has been meeting weekly since September. This week, the PA Department of Health (DOH) began offering meetings for providers that have submitted vaccine enrollment applications to DOH. Here is some of the information that was shared during the first meeting:

• DOH expects shipment of the Pfizer vaccine as early as Dec. 15 and the Moderna vaccine about a week later
•  It is important to recognize that the first shipments will address only about 1% of the population and will be targeted to healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities
• Only organizations that have submitted a COVID-19 vaccine enrollment application to DOH will be eligible to receive vaccine
• There will be bidirectional communication with enrolled organizations prior to shipment
• Shipment will include a separately shipped “ancillary kit” that includes needles, masks and face shields
• All vaccine reporting will be through PA-SIIS
• For the initial phase of vaccination, providers will receive either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, not both, to reduce confusion, although that could change as supply and vaccine options increase

Additional information can be found in this week’s summary of the weekly All PA FQHC CEO Call and PACHC will continue to share information as it becomes available. In the meantime, it is important for each health center to begin planning, including prioritization of who will be eligible to receive the vaccine if there is an inadequate initial supply to immunize all employees.

There are a number of innovative programs, policies, and best practices that prevent and mitigate the consequences of COVID–19 in urban and rural areas, while also preserving access to healthcare services for non-COVID-19 medical conditions.  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requests information on these innovative approaches and best practices in health care for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 conditions to inform and improve HHS priorities and programs.