Several rural counties are featured in a report from the National Association of Counties on behavioral health needs and access challenges.

 For American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) birthing people, the risk of pregnancy-related death is two to three times higher than that of white birthing people. In Alaska, the disparity is even greater; Alaska Native birthing people have the highest rates of pregnancy-associated mortality, at over five times higher than white birthing people. This case study from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center examines the strengths and challenges for a hospital-based Tribal maternity unit located in Northwestern Alaska.

The Medicaid Enrollment and Unwinding Tracker presents the most recent data on monthly Medicaid enrollment, renewals, disenrollments, and other key indicators reported by states during the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision. The unwinding data are pulled from state websites, where available, and from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

To view data for specific states, click on the State Enrollment and Unwinding Data tab.

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a new Surgeon General’s Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. While social media may offer some benefits, there are ample indicators that social media can also pose a risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. Social media use by young people is nearly universal, with up to 95% of young people ages 13-17 reporting using a social media platform and more than a third saying they use social media “almost constantly.” With adolescence and childhood representing a critical stage in brain development that can make young people more vulnerable to harm from social media, the Surgeon General is issuing a call for urgent action by policymakers, technology companies, researchers, families, and young people alike to gain a better understanding of the full impact of social media use, maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of social media platforms, and create safer, healthier online environments to protect children. Learn more.

More than 450 clinicians and counselors in rural New England were surveyed about stigma as a barrier to treating patients for opioid use disorder (OUD) as well as practitioners’ beliefs about medications for OUD.  Over half (55 percent) ranked stigma as the highest barrier among other factors such as time and staffing, medication diversion, and organizational/clinic barriers. Many clinicians (60 percent) and counselors (51 percent) disagreed that medications for opioid use disorder “replace addiction to one kind of drug with another.”  But among clinicians with the ability to prescribe, there was a significant difference in this belief depending on whether they were currently treating with medications for OUD (MOUD).  More than 80 percent of those currently treating with MOUD believed it is not an addiction replacement; among those not currently treated with OUD, fewer than half felt that way.  The study was conducted by the FORHP-supported Center on Rural Addiction at the University of Vermont.

  The White House’s budget request to Congress included an $11 billion ask to tackle the spread of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) over the next five years.  Though it’s not a crisis that’s well-known or understood, public health efforts in the last 10 years have made strides toward prevention and treatment.  Direct-acting antivirals developed less than a decade ago have been proven effective in 95 percent of the people who take a curative pill for 8 to 12 weeks.  The challenge has been getting infected persons in for diagnosis and moving them toward treatment.  For rural communities, the rise in prevalence has been labeled epidemic and closely related to injection drug use. Data show a substantial number of people are unaware they’re infected; of those with some kind of public or private insurance, only a third are actually treated.  Left untreated, HCV can lead to liver failure, cancer, and death.  The proposed federal program includes a significant push for screening and treatment – accelerating the availability of point-of-care diagnostic tests and providing broad access to medication – with a focus on populations at greatest risk for infection: Medicaid beneficiaries, justice-involved populations, people without insurance, and American Indian and Alaska Native individuals who are treated through the Indian Health Service. Also last week: the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated recommendations for hepatitis B virus screening and testing.  Considered more common than HCV, hepatitis B causes more liver-related cancer and death.

 The Administration for Community Living will award $500,000 in cash prizes for innovative and effective pilot solutions that address the needs of people in rural communities who are aging with HIV. Some potential solutions may be: enhancing the capacity of community-based organizations; increasing engagement/reducing isolation for long-term survivors; or addressing social determinants of health such as transportation or access to physical activities.  Up to 10 winners may be selected to each receive a prize of up to $15,000. Because these are prize competitions, there are no reporting requirements, deliverables, or other restrictions associated with federal grants.  The participants selected to receive a prize for Phase 1, Design of Concept, may compete for Phase 2, Development of Solution. The date was extended to February 14, 2023.

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) published the household income data that determines eligibility for Medicaid and a number of other Federal programs.

In its 2022 Overview, FORHP’s parent agency offers some insight into the efforts of 15 program areas over the last year, including serving more than 1,500 rural counties and municipalities across the country.