In June 2024, the PBDA opened the Capital Projects Fund – Digital Connectivity Technology (Technology) Program. This program utilized $20 million of the $279 million in the Capital Projects Fund that were allocated to Pennsylvania through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021.  

In November 2024, the PBDA distributed over 9,000 laptops to 117 applicants, across 42 counties. These entities included libraries, municipalities, workforce training organizations, not-for-profit organizations, other community anchor institutions, in areas where affordability is a barrier. For details on the first round of approved applicants, please visit the Digital Connectivity Technology Program page. 

The PBDA will open a second round of the Technology Program beginning April 1, 2025, to distribute the remaining laptops. In preparation for this second round, there will be two webinars which will provide an overview of the program, review FAQs, and outline any updates to the guidelines. Additional information for these webinars is provided in the attached flyer. 

Should you have additional questions or needs, please contact the PBDA at pbda_capitalprojectsfund@pa.gov.  

The Western Center for Agriculture created this checklist for employers of farmworkers to decrease risk of H5NI exposure.  Available in both English and Spanish, it covers California-specific regulations in addition to guidance on written procedures, sanitation, biosecurity, training, personal protective equipment, and medical care.

In December, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced four states will participate in the Innovation in Behavioral Health Model (IBH Model). The selected states are Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. The IBH Model is a collaboration between CMS and state Medicaid agencies to build a model that provides integrated care to Medicaid and Medicare populations with moderate-to-severe mental health conditions and/or substance use disorder (SUD). Model implementation began on January 1, 2025.

– Comment by March 7.  On January 6th, 2025, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a proposed rule to modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Security Rule to strengthen cybersecurity protections for electronic protected health information. The proposal will strengthen the Security Rule’s standards and implementation specifications with new proposals and clarifications. This rule will impact hospitals, providers, health plans, and any other entity that use or transmit electronic protected health information. Comments are due March 7, 2025.

– Apply by March 1.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting a new solicitation to select 10 hospitals to participate in the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration. This demonstration tests the feasibility and advisability of paying rural hospitals with fewer than 51 beds and that are not eligible to be Critical Access Hospitals cost-based reimbursement for Medicare inpatient services. Per statute, CMS can only accept applications from hospitals in the 20 least densely populated States, according to data for 2020 from the U.S. Census Bureau: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming. The demonstration began in 2004 and has been extended three times. The current 5-year period of participation ends June 30, 2028. Hospitals currently participating in the demonstration do not need to complete a new application.  If you have questions about the demonstration, please email RCHDemo@cms.hhs.gov.

While H5N1 bird flu is caused by viruses that most commonly affect birds and poultry, they can also affect cows and other animals.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) keeps most recent information at cdc.gov/bird-flu, including a series of brief videos – each 30-45 seconds – with answers to frequently asked questions.  See Resources of the Week below for related information.

In this brief, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) examines trends in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) telehealth utilization before and during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Specifically, it describes patterns of telehealth service utilization based on where enrollees and providers live and work, highlighting trends for rural and urban enrollees, and telehealth utilization in geographic health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). It concludes that the use of telehealth in the Medicaid and CHIP programs warrants continued examination in both urban and rural areas. Medicaid and CHIP are important sources of insurance coverage in rural areas covering 47 percent of children and 18 percent of adults in rural counties.