- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction Model
- CMS: Secretarial Comments on the CBE's (Battelle Memorial Institute) 2024 Activities: Report to Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
- HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- HRSA Announces Action to Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Life-Saving Medications at Health Centers Nationwide
- Public Inspection: HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- Increased Risk of Cyber Threats Against Healthcare and Public Health Sector
- 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: Fiscal Year 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
World Cavity-Free Day 2019
World Cavity-Free Day is October 14, 2019. This initiative was launched by the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future in 2016. Use the 2019 resource pack to find family resources, professional resources, posters, images, infographics, a toolkit, and background information to promote World Cavity-Free Day in your area. Click here to view the resource pack.
A New Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health Commissioned
VADM Jerome Adams has commissioned a Surgeon General’s Report on Oral Health. The Report is on track to be released in 2020 and will include the input of hundreds of experts and numerous organizations. The newly commissioned report will describe key issues that currently affect oral health, and identify challenges and opportunities that have emerged since publication of the first report in 2000.
Study Ties Poor Oral Health in Kids to Adult Heart Disease Risk
Reuters Health reports on a new study that finds children who develop cavities and gum disease may be more likely to develop risk factors for heart attacks and strokes decades later than kids who have good oral health. Kids who had even one sign of poor oral health were 87% more likely to develop subclinical atherosclerosis; children with four signs of poor oral health were 95% more likely to develop this type of artery damage. Periodontal disease in adults has long been linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
Economic Impact of a Bad Smile Estimated at $27 Million
An article in the Journal of Public Health Dentistry describes the impact improving oral health could have on employability. Dr. Halasa-Rappel, PhD and her co-authors used the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey to develop a Dental Problem Index (DPI) to quantify the impact of dental caries and missing anterior teeth on employment, and estimate the impact of a routine dental visit on the health of anterior teeth and the benefits of expanding dental coverage for non-elderly adults. They found that a routine dental visit has a negative impact on the DPI and improves the probability of employment and estimated that improvement in dental coverage would improve the employability of 9,972 non-elderly adults with an associated annual fiscal impact of $27 million.