- 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
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Fiscal Year 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
- CMS: Request for Information; Health Technology Ecosystem
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2025 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program; and Medicare Overpayments; and Appeal Rights for Certain Changes in Patient Status; Corrections and Correcting Amendment
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2025 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program; and Medicare Overpayments; and Appeal Rights for Certain Changes in Patient Status; Corrections and Correcting Amendment
- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- State: 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application
USDA Seeks Applications to Strengthen Community and Economic Development to Benefit All People in Rural Communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Rural Development Xochitl Torres Small announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants that will advance equity in rural communities through improvements in housing, community facilities, and community and economic development.
USDA is making the grants available under the Rural Community Development Initiative or RCDI program. Qualified intermediaries may use the funds to improve housing and community facilities, and to implement community and economic development projects in rural areas.
USDA is offering priority points to projects that advance key priorities under the Biden-Harris Administration to help communities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, advance equity and combat climate change. These extra points will increase the likelihood of funding for projects seeking to address these critical challenges in rural America.
Eligible applicants include public bodies and tribal authorities, nonprofit organizations and qualified for-profit organizations.
Grants may be used to train sub-grantees to conduct educational training on homeownership or minority-owned business entrepreneurship. The grants also may be used to provide technical assistance to sub-grantees on the following:
- strategic plan development
- accessing alternative funding sources
- training and resources for board operations, management, financial systems and information technology
Awardees must contribute matching funds equal to the amount of the grant.
Electronic applications will be accepted via Grants.gov. Electronic applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on April 19, 2022.
The deadline for paper applications is 4 p.m. local time, April 25, 2022.
Additional information is available on page 7084 of the February 8 Federal Register. In Pennsylvania, please contact Rebecca Hurst at (717) 237-2267 or rebecca.hurst2@usda.gov, the RCDI coordinator, for additional information.
If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.
HHS Announces New Task Force to Prevent Human Trafficking
The Task Force will focus on partnerships, equity, and open data.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra publicly announced the formation of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Task Force to Prevent Human Trafficking (the Task Force). The Task Force will facilitate implementation of the priority actions HHS has committed to in President Biden’s National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking, as well as strengthen HHS’ human trafficking prevention and intervention efforts with a focus on partnerships, equity, and open data.
Secretary Becerra first announced the Task Force at a January 25th meeting of President Biden’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons – a cabinet-level entity of 20 federal agencies responsible for coordinating U.S. government-wide efforts to combat human trafficking. The Administration for Children and Families and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health will lead the Task Force at HHS, which will be made up of experts from across the Department.
“There is no place for human trafficking in our world. Our Task Force will work to ensure health and human services providers are adequately equipped to support survivors,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “On top of determining new ways to support survivors, our Task Force will work to elevate national awareness about human trafficking to encourage more people to come forward and help stop it. Together, government, community, and businesses can prevent human trafficking in neighborhoods across the country.”
Human trafficking disproportionally affects many of the communities HHS serves. These communities include—but are not limited to—youth and adults experiencing homelessness and domestic violence, persons in eldercare systems, unaccompanied children and refugees, Indigenous communities, individuals with a prior history of substance abuse and other populations that have been systemically marginalized. Part of the work of the Task Force will be to figure out how to better reach affected communities where they are.
“Gender, racial, and other forms of inequity are some of the major underlying factors that contribute to risks for human trafficking,” added Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Rachel Levine. “Our unified public health response to human trafficking will strengthen our national understanding of the diverse manifestations of human trafficking and work towards the short- and long-term wellbeing of historically underserved communities.”
Together, with federal, state, local, and public-private partners, the Task Force will work to scale innovative models to prevent human trafficking – particularly in the high-need areas of housing, mental health and substance use, and economic mobility. In addition, the Task Force will integrate an equity lens into new public awareness strategies to better reach populations at disproportionate risk for human trafficking. Finally, the Task Force will partner with the research and business communities to analyze data on human trafficking and prevent human trafficking in healthcare supply chains.
“Each instance of human trafficking we learn about through the HHS National Human Trafficking Hotline or through local grant-receiving organizations represents an opportunity for us to make a pivotal connection,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families JooYeun Chang. “We need to look at multi-generational solutions to disrupt the cycles of trauma and strengthen resiliency at individual, family, and community levels.”
Diabetes Standards of Care
The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recently released its much-anticipated annual Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes. Based upon the latest scientific diabetes research and clinical trials, Standards of Care is the gold-standard for professionals in the medical field and includes vital new and updated practice guidelines to care for people with diabetes and prediabetes. Read the full ADA press release and access additional guidelines and tools for health care professionals on their professional website, DiabetesPro.
Rural Nursing Workforce Upgraded
Rural areas in the U.S. have fewer nurses per capita than urban areas, and those nurses are more likely to have associate’s rather than bachelor’s degrees according to a recent study from the Rural and Minority Health Research Center at the University of South Carolina. Rural nurses, however, often have a broader range of duties and responsibilities because of the lack of specializing nurses. Given the Institute of Medicine’s goal to raise the proportion of registered nurses (RNs) with bachelor’s-level degrees to 80% by 2020, research is needed to examine the educational attainment of RNs across the U.S. and explore registered nurse to Bachelor of Science in nursing (RN-to-BSN) program activities to attract, train and place nurse trainees in rural communities. Listen to a podcast interview with research leader Jan Probst, PhD.
Social Media Toolkit Can Help with Recruiting
It is not a surprise that social media has become an addiction to many, but is it also a tool for recruiting healthcare professionals? Yes, it is. The Social Media Toolkit from the Alabama Department of Public Health will give you an in-depth analysis of three social media platforms, as well as describing how to create a free account. The toolkit includes useful information on how to create a social media marketing plan for recruitment of healthcare professionals. As a bonus, the toolkit gives a brief review of social media etiquette, which is vital when reaching out to potential employees. Access the toolkit.
Drug Overdose Deaths Claim More Than 1 Million Years of Life
Adolescents and young adults lost an estimated 1.2 million years of life due to unintentional drug overdoses over five years, according to a study published in JAMA. About 3,300 adolescents ages 10–19 years old died of an unintentional drug overdose in the U.S. between 2015 and 2019, representing about 187,078 years of life lost, researchers from Ohio State University said. That number rises to nearly 22,000 young people when expanding the age group to overdose deaths among those 10–24 years old. Males collectively lost more years of life, the researchers said. Read more.
Lockdowns Reduced Mortality By 0.2%
Study finds lockdowns only reduced mortality by 0.2%. Researchers – Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and special advisor at Copenhagen’s Center for Political Studies Jonas Herby – analyzed the effects of lockdown measures such as school shutdowns, business closures, and mask mandates on COVID-19 deaths. “We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates,” the researchers wrote. The researchers also examined shelter-in-place orders, finding that they reduced COVID-19 mortality by 2.9%. Read more.
People Could Lose Medicaid When Pandemic Ends
States expect the current federal public health emergency to expire this year, triggering a requirement that they must comb through their Medicaid rolls to see who is no longer eligible. With redeterminations for current Medicaid eligible placed on hold, Pennsylvania stands to see more than 400,000 lose coverage. Consumers typically lose coverage because their income increases, or they fail to submit the proper paperwork to prove eligibility. The PA Department of Human Services and the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange, Pennie, have been working to identify those consumers who may lose Medicaid coverage and provide them with information on the availability of financial help if the enroll in Pennie. Read more.
2022 Federal Poverty Level Guidelines
Federal Poverty Level (FPL) guidelines are issued each year by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. They’re based on information gathered by the Census Bureau. The Bureau uses that data to calculate the total cost of essential resources used by an average person in a year. Federal poverty levels are used to determine eligibility for certain programs and benefits, including savings on Marketplace health insurance, and Medicaid and CHIP coverage. The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has created an Income and Resource Limit Chart for Medicaid and other health programs. View the full HHS chart.
Medicare Will Cover Free Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests
CMS Developing Initiative to Enable Access to Eight Free Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests for Medicare Beneficiaries in Early Spring
As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing efforts to expand Americans’ access to free testing, people in either Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage will be able to get over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at no cost starting in early spring. Under the new initiative, Medicare beneficiaries will be able to access up to eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per month for free. Tests will be available through eligible pharmacies and other participating entities. This policy will apply to COVID-19 over-the-counter tests approved or authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This is the first time that Medicare has covered an over-the-counter test at no cost to beneficiaries. There are a number of issues that have made it difficult to cover and pay for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests. However, given the importance of expanding access to testing, CMS has identified a pathway that will expand access to free over-the-counter testing for Medicare beneficiaries. This new initiative will enable payment from Medicare directly to participating pharmacies and other participating entities to allow Medicare beneficiaries to pick up tests at no cost. CMS anticipates that this option will be available to people with Medicare in the early spring.
Until then, people with Medicare can access free tests through a number of channels established by the Biden-Harris Administration. Medicare beneficiaries can:
- Request four free over-the-counter tests for home delivery at covidtests.gov.
- Access COVID-19 tests through healthcare providers at over 20,000 free testing sites nationwide. A list of community-based testing sites can be found here.
- Access lab-based PCR tests and antigen tests performed by a laboratory when the test is ordered by a physician, non-physician practitioner, pharmacist, or other authorized health care professional at no cost. In addition to accessing a COVID-19 lab test ordered by a health care professional, people with Medicare can also already access one lab-performed test without an order, also without cost sharing, during the public health emergency.
In addition:
- Medicare Advantage plans may offer coverage and payment for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests as a supplemental benefit in addition to covering Medicare Part A and Part B benefits, so Medicare beneficiaries covered by Medicare Advantage should check with their plan to see if it includes such a benefit.
- All Medicare beneficiaries with Part B are eligible for the new benefit, whether enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan or not.
For more information, please see these Frequently Asked Questions, https://www.cms.gov/files/document/covid-19-over-counter-otc-tests-medicare-frequently-asked-questions.pdf.