As people with HIV age, their health care and social needs change. All members of the healthcare team can assist in the care and treatment as people age with HIV. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) has released two new aging with HIV reference guides to assist healthcare professionals in supporting this growing population.

• Incorporating New Elements of Care – This reference guide identifies commonly occurring healthcare and social needs of people aging with HIV and highlights the screenings and assessments for these needs.
• Putting Together the Best Health Care Team – This reference guide discusses how all members of the healthcare team can contribute to the care of people aging with HIV.

A new report presents findings from a pre-COVID 2019 review of telebehavioral health’s effectiveness on key clinical outcomes. This Milbank Memorial Fund report also features insights into the telebehavioral health policies and program structures of Texas and Massachusetts Medicaid and an example from the Veterans Affairs administration. These findings may provide useful lessons for state policymakers as they consider next steps for telehealth. The full report is available here.

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) is conducting an important survey of the state’s outpatient healthcare provider practices. DHS is conducting the survey because CMS has requested each state to assess the current degree of Health Information Technology (Health IT) adoption, usage and challenges experienced by its healthcare providers. Some important considerations:

• Survey results will be reported to CMS as part of the Pennsylvania’s State Medicaid Health IT Plan, and will be used to inform policy decisions as part of the commonwealth’s efforts to encourage meaningful use of health IT.
• This survey should be completed by one individual on behalf of the entire practice/organization. The individual may be a provider, practice manager, CIO, or any individual who is familiar with the health center’s health IT adoption and is authorized to answer the survey on behalf of the FQHC.
• Your answers will be kept anonymous and reported only in the aggregate.

Access the survey here. For your convenience, DHS has also posted a downloadable copy of the survey (in PDF format) on its website so that you can preview it and use it to gather answers prior to completing the actual survey. Preview the PDF of the survey. The survey is estimated to take 15-20 minutes to complete.

Insulin prices are more than eight times higher in the United States than in 32 high-income comparison nations combined, according to a RAND Corporation study. This ranges from 3.8 times higher than Chile to 27.7 times higher than Turkey. Closer to home, they were 6.3 times higher than Canada. Even accounting for rebates and discounts, U.S. consumers are still likely to pay four times the average paid in other high-income nations. The study was sponsored by the Health and Human Services Office for Planning and Evaluation. Read more.

Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released findings from the 20th annual budget survey of Medicaid officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey was conducted by KFF and Health Management Associates (HMA) in collaboration with the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD). Findings from this year’s budget survey policy report primarily focus on Medicaid policy changes planned for FY 2021, particularly those related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Key areas of focus include eligibility and enrollment, provider rates and taxes, delivery systems, long-term services and supports, benefits and telehealth, and pharmacy cost containment. The full report is available here.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration recently released the Annual Coal Report, which includes information on the number of mines, their productive capacity, prices, employment, and consumption.  Highlights for 2019 include a decrease in the production, productive capacity, and average number of employees at U.S. coal mines, as well as a decrease in U.S. coal consumption. The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy manages the Black Lung Clinics Program that provides predominantly rural miners with access to educational, screening, medical, and benefits counseling services with the goal to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with occupationally-related coal mine dust lung diseases.

This new data brief from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services explores the extent to which rural Medicare beneficiaries bypass their nearest rural hospital and which hospital services rural Medicare beneficiaries most often seek locally and at distant hospitals.  Traveling to a distant hospital for services rather than using the local rural hospital, aka ‘rural bypass’, can increase financial pressure on rural providers, especially Tribal hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals.

In partnership with the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL), PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia released the 2020 Pennsylvania Family Support Needs Assessment (FSNA).

This assessment is a requirement for Pennsylvania to continue receipt of federal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) funds.  For the last two years, the research conducted a robust assessment that examines a wide range of maternal and child social, environmental and health factors impacting the well-being of children, families and communities across state.

The report can be accessed at:  https://policylab.chop.edu/reports-and-tools/2020-pennsylvania-family-support-needs-assessment.  A partner toolkit also has been developed that includes information on social media distribution and other dissemination tools.  See:  https://policylab.chop.edu/reports-and-tools/partner-toolkit-2020-pennsylvania-family-support-needs-assessment.