- 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
Black Pennsylvanians 50% Less Likely to Receive Naloxone, Despite Soaring Overdose Deaths
A recent study from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) has found that Black people who died from opioid overdoses were half as likely as white people to receive the life-saving drug naloxone, otherwise known as Narcan. The study also found that Black overdose deaths in Pennsylvania increased by more than 50% between 2019 and 2021, compared with no change in white overdose deaths. A DOH representative said that similar rises in overdose deaths are being seen across the country, especially among Black, American Indian and Alaska Native populations, but researchers are still investigating what’s behind the spike. Read more.
Supreme Court Preserves Abortion Pill Access After Tossing Challenge
Why it matters: It’s the court’s biggest abortion-related decision since overturning Roe v. Wade and ensures that mifepristone — one of the most widely used drugs for medication abortions — will remain available. Click here to learn more.
Drug Manufacturers’ Assault on 340B Program Continues
Two more manufacturers have announced contract pharmacy restrictions (CPRs) on Community Health Centers and a third has tightened them:
· Alkermes – who makes Vivitrol, an SUD treatment drug that CHCs often prescribe – announced CPRs that will go into effect on July 22. Due to varying payor rules about whether Vivitrol must be dispensed by a regular pharmacy or contract pharmacy, it will soon be impossible for most CHCs to obtain all their Vivitrol at the 340B price.
· Sobi announced CPRs effective July 1, but they should have little impact on CHCs.
· Effective July 1, Bristol Meyers Squibb will require CHCs with a single, designated contract pharmacy site to report data to ESP on that site. This data must be reported within 14 days of the drug being dispensed and include 16 elements for each claim. CHC experts say that meeting these requirements will be an extremely heavy lift, and possibly impossible.
· Sanofi’s policy of treating free-standing CHC-owned pharmacies like contract pharmacies appears to have been adopted by Alkermes, Bausch & Lomb, and Sobi. More information will be forthcoming, but we’re told that health centers should prepare for most of their free-standing pharmacies to lose access to 340B-priced Sanofi, Bausch & Lomb, and Sobi drugs starting July 1, and Alkermes drugs starting July 22.
Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act Passes out of Congress
The Maternal and Child Health Stillbirth Prevention Act of 2024, HR 4581, passed through both the House and the Senate, and now awaits President Biden’s signature before it becomes law. The bipartisan bill amends the Maternal and Child Health Service Block Grant program to allow states to use those dollars for stillbirth prevention and research activities but does not include additional funding.
Responding to the Primary Care Payment Congressional RFI
Senators Whitehouse and Cassidy introduced S. 4338, the Pay PCPs Act. The Pay PCPs Act would encourage the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to accelerate its existing efforts to support value-based primary care and improve the adequacy of pay for primary care providers in Medicare. This legislation serves as a marker for future primary care legislation and includes a request for information on hybrid payments for primary care providers, risk adjustment criteria, quality measures and services to be included in hybrid models, cost sharing and technical advisory committees. Please send any feedback on the RFI questions to federalpolicy@nachc.org by June 28.
Work Resumes in Pennsylvania to Finalize Rules to Reduce Barriers for Those with Criminal Records to Earn Professional Licenses
State officials are taking another crack at finalizing proposed rules that would make it easier for Pennsylvania residents with criminal records to earn professional licenses in fields ranging from accounting and nursing to cosmetology and real estate. The PA Department of State (DOS), which oversees professional licensure, issued a revised version of the rules this month after an earlier draft was rejected in April by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC). IRRC questioned whether the rules adequately protect public health and safety and was concerned, in part, that certain crimes were not listed as being “directly related” to certain professions, thus triggering a closer look from licensing boards. The rules, for example, did not make prior convictions for forgery or identity theft an automatic impediment for people seeking to become state-licensed CPAs. In its latest version, DOS added stronger language emphasizing that licensing boards have a responsibility to consider individual applications for licensure. The language also clarifies that boards can still consider offenses as part of a licensing decision even if they are not listed as “directly related.” The IRRC met this week and approved the updated version. The rules implement Act 53 of 2020, a state law enacted in 2020.
CMS Updates Information on New Hospital Price Transparency Requirements Commencing July 1, 2024
PRISM Study Summary: Preparing Behavioral Health Clinicians for Success and Retention in Rural Safety Net Practices
This study assesses how, among behavioral health clinicians working in rural safety net practices, the amount of exposure to care in rural underserved communities received during training relates to confidence in skills important in their work settings, successes in jobs and communities, and anticipated retention.
This study summary provides a quick overview of the study published by the Journal of Rural Health.
FEMA Publishes National Risk Index
The National Risk Index is a dataset and online tool to help illustrate the United States communities most at risk for 18 natural hazards. It was designed and built by FEMA in close collaboration with various stakeholders and partners in academia; local, state and federal government; and private industry.
The Risk Index leverages available source data for natural hazard and community risk factors to develop a baseline risk measurement for each United States county and Census tract.
Quality of EMS Care Varies Widely Across the U.S.
From AXIOS
The level of care patients receive in a medical emergency varies widely based on where 911 is being dialed.
Why it matters: A first-of-its-kind study of emergency medical service systems’ performance across the country points to opportunities to improve patient care when the pressure is on.
What they did: Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reviewed more than 26 million responses from nearly 9,700 EMS agencies in 2019.
- They assessed how those agencies performed on safety and clinical quality measures that had been outlined by a nonprofit industry organization that year.
- The researchers said it’s a shift from looking primarily at response times to determine EMS performance, which they say is an imprecise metric for most calls.
What they found: Agencies largely responding in rural areas were less likely to treat low blood sugar or improve trauma patients’ pain, researchers found.
- They were also more likely to use lights and sirens unnecessarily, which other studies have found raises the risk of crashes.
- Delivery of time-sensitive treatment also varied during EMS calls. For instance, 4 in 10 kids with wheezing or asthma attacks didn’t get breathing treatment, and about 1 in 3 suspected stroke patients didn’t have a stroke assessment documented.
What they’re saying: “We have to move away from solely looking at response times and start looking at performance that directly impacts the people we are meant to treat,” said lead author Michael Redlener, an associate professor of emergency medicine.