- Fact Sheet: The Biden-Harris Administration Highlights Investments in Rural America, Invites Public Nominations for Rural Innovators Initiative
- Rural Victims of Intimate-Partner Violence Need More Resources and Support, Study Finds
- A Tribe in Maine Is Using Opioid Settlement Funds on a Sweat Lodge to Treat Addiction
- Fact Sheet: USDA, HHS Announce New Actions to Reduce Impact and Spread of H5N1
- Call for Experts: Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence
- Bill to Expand Definition of 'Village' Qualifying for Water Funds Passes Alaska House
- Child Care Workers Caught in Middle of Michigan's Broken Child Care System
- Few Options Available for Substance Abuse Treatment in the Big Bend
- In Rural Texas, ERs Are Facing a Growing Mental Health Crisis
- Ways and Means Members Put Forth Solutions to Strengthen Telehealth Access and Improve Health Care for Rural Communities
- Sage Memorial Hospital in Navajo Nation Constructs New Facility to Improve Health Care
- How the State, Tribes and Federal Government Are Working to Curb SD's Syphilis Epidemic
- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- RPHARM Program Fulfills Need for Rural Pharmacists
- A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
Pennsylvania Allows Dentists to Administer COVID-19 Vaccines
With many more pending, Pennsylvania joins more than a dozen other states in allowing dentists to administer the COVID-19 vaccine when delegated by a medical doctor or an osteopathic physician. As supplies of the vaccine are expected to increase considerably over the next few months, dental providers may play an important role in vaccine clinics.
FDA Issues Alert on Hand Sanitizers from Mexico
As part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s continuing efforts to protect consumers from potentially dangerous or subpotent hand sanitizers, the agency has placed all alcohol-based hand sanitizers from Mexico on a countrywide import alert to help stop products that appear to be in violation from entering the U.S. until the agency is able to review the products’ safety. Over the course of the ongoing pandemic, the agency has seen a sharp increase in hand sanitizer products from Mexico that were labeled to contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol) but tested positive for methanol contamination. Methanol, or wood alcohol, is a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through the skin and life-threatening when ingested. Methanol is not an acceptable ingredient in hand sanitizer or other drugs.
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Protecting Rural Access to Care Act
On January 25, 2021, Reps. Antonio Delgado (D-NY) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY) introduced the Protecting Rural Access to Care Act (H.R. 489), a bill intended to protect the benefits of rural hospitals already struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic. “The shuttering of one hospital, let alone three, in a rural area where residents travel long distances for health care and hospitals experience difficulty in retaining and attracting medical professionals, is unconscionable,” Delgado said. “The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored what folks upstate already knew — we need more access to health care facilities, not less.” A key measure in the bill would reverse a change made in 2015 to how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) defines secondary roads, which can determine whether hospitals qualify for the Critical Access Hospital program. This new change to the definition would ensure many existing rural hospitals do not lose the benefits of being a Critical Access Hospital once they begin recertification.
Capitol Hill Gears Up for Next COVID-19 Debate
The 117th Congress is underway and the first legislative issue the new Congress and Administration plan to take up is additional COVID-19 relief. At this time, it is unclear what the relief package will include, or what the method for passage will be.
The GAO Releases a Report on Rural Hospital Closures and Reduced Access to Services
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study on the impact rural hospital closures have on their community. The study, which was conducted from January 2013 through February 2020, examined the effects of the 101 rural hospitals that closed during that time. Among other findings, the GAO discovered that over this time period, disparities in these rural communities were further exacerbated and the availability of physicians for patients declined significantly. Read the full study here.
President Biden Signs Executive Orders on Health Care
On January 28, 2021, President Biden signed two executive orders related to health care. The White House stated that these new executive orders, “Will re-open enrollment to the Health Insurance Marketplace, take additional steps to strengthen Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, and protect women’s health.” Subsequently, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) for individuals and families for Marketplace coverage in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. In a recent alert about the SEP, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) relayed that the Marketplaces would be open from February 15, 2021 through May 15, 2021. President Biden’s executive order to protect women’s health included a Presidential Memorandum to protect and expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care, among other, more controversial policies.
CMS Updates SUD Data Book
On Jan. 19, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published an update to its Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Data Book for Congress. The data book uses 2018 Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) data. Notable findings include:
- Of the 55.9 million Medicaid beneficiaries with full or comprehensive benefits ages 12 and older, 4.6 million (8 percent) were treated for a SUD in 2018.
- 57 percent of beneficiaries treated for a SUD were diagnosed with tobacco use disorder and 30 percent had an opioid use disorder.
- Nearly half of beneficiaries (46 percent) treated for a SUD received emergency services (the most common SUD treatment service).
- 26 percent received at least one service in an outpatient or home- or community-based setting within 30 days of discharge.
Vaccines National Strategic Plan
On Jan. 19, the U.S. Department of Human Health Services (HHS) released its Vaccines National Strategic Plan: 2021–2025 that is focused on protection across the lifespan. View the plan here.
USPSTF Statement on Systemic Racism in Preventive Care
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has published an editorial, “The USPSTF Values Statement and Actions to Address Systemic Racism Through Clinical Preventive Services,” in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Authored by members of the Task Force, this editorial affirms that, while clinical preventive services improve health and well-being, systemic racism in the healthcare system prevents many Black, Indigenous, and Hispanic/Latino people from fully benefitting from these services. The editorial also advances a roadmap designed to address systemic racism and help eliminate health inequities.
The FQHC Story on Oral Health Value-Based Care
With Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) serving as a point of care for more than 28 million patients, many of whom are uninsured, living in poverty and located in rural areas, these social determinants of health create chronic conditions, including a disproportionate burden of oral disease. FQHCs have been at the forefront of providing comprehensive, person-centered health care that has been facilitated by better access to technology infrastructure and coordinated primary care delivery. As such, a series of analyses were performed by the DentaQuest Partnership using three data sources to explore health outcomes and service provision in an FQHC population compared to non-FQHC populations. Click here to read more.