HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) this week released the first report on national Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program AIDS Drug Assistance Program client-level data. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Annual Client-Level Data Report 2017 (PDF – 659 KB) is the inaugural publication of data submitted through the ADAP Data Report system. The data describe the demographic characteristics of clients accessing ADAP services and the ADAP-funded services used. Data are included for 2014 through 2017, nationally and by state/territory.

This report provides a deeper look at service utilization, demographic, and socioeconomic factors among clients served by RWHAP ADAP. The report also includes client-level data based on age, race/ethnicity, federal poverty level, and health care coverage.

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), in partnership with the National Association of County & City Health Officials (NACCHO), released a case study on the rural Kentucky Help End Addiction for Life (HEAL) initiative. This case study provides an in-depth examination of HEAL’s unique features and highlights the voices of local providers and stakeholders. The lessons learned by the HEAL coalition offer strategies for other communities to consider in their own collaborations to reduce opioid use.  The full report can be accessed here.

The Rural Health Value team recently released a new Rural Innovation Brief focused on technical assistance for rural hospitals considering participation in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model.

Technical Assistance for Hospitals Applying to the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model—a CMMI-Sponsored Rural Hospital Global Budget Model – Rural hospitals, interested in participating in the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model, participated in a rapid cycle process to develop plans to transition from being volume-oriented to focusing on community health, facilitated by a global budget. This brief summarizes Rural Health Value’s process to facilitate hospital development of a transition plan for those considering developing or participating in a global budget or other transformation models for rural hospitals. (August 2019)

The report can be accessed here.

Americans with lower incomes are less likely to live into their 70s and 80s than Americans with comparatively higher incomes, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released this week. GAO researchers found average life expectancy in the United States increased from 1992 to 2014, but it “has not increased uniformly across all income groups, and people who have lower incomes tend to have shorter lives than those with higher incomes.” (Source: Washington Post, 9/9)

Millions of families in the U.S. struggled to get enough food to eat last year, but conditions appear to be getting better as the economy improves.

In a new report released Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says that about 11 percent of households — just over 14 million — had trouble putting enough food on the table last year and that in about 4 percent of households, someone went hungry because there was not enough money to buy food.

While the numbers are high, they have steadily dropped in recent years and the government says that the level of what it calls food “insecurity” is finally back to where it was before the Great Recession began in 2007.

“That’s good news,” says Rachel Merker of First Focus, a group that advocates for children and families. But she and other anti-hunger advocates worry that the new numbers will be used to justify cuts in government aid. They say that hunger is still a problem, especially among certain vulnerable groups. “It’s important to note that children are disproportionately living in food insecure households,” Merker says.

This week, the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) formally accepted a final Report of Recommendations developed by the Substance Abuse Advisory Council (SAAC) outlining proposed steps for developing a robust recovery ecosystem in Appalachia. Among the recommended strategies for action include developing community playbooks, employers toolkits, model workforce training programs, and community navigation programs. Many of the recommendations’ key themes were drawn from six Recovery-to-Work Listening Sessions hosted by ARC, coupled with expertise from the SAAC, a 24-member volunteer group of leaders from recovery services, health, economic development, private industry, education, state government, law enforcement, and other sectors representing each of the Region’s 13 states. ARC seated the SAAC earlier this year with the charge to develop concrete guiding recommendations to ARC for addressing the workforce impacts of Appalachia’s substance abuse epidemic.

“This report, the result of excellent work by the ARC Substance Abuse Advisory Council, is informed and inspired by the people of the Appalachian Region, who have been especially impacted by the substance abuse epidemic in our country,” said ARC Federal Co-Chairman Tim Thomas. “I am proud not only of the innovative and necessary recommendations they have produced, but of the transparent and participatory process by which they reached their conclusions. Their effort proves that effective leadership begins at the community level. I accept their recommendations, thank the Commission for doing the same, and will seek to begin addressing them with our state partners in future ARC programs.”

In late August 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released results from the National Immunization Survey-Teen (NIS-Teen) in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), providing the latest estimates of vaccination rates among adolescents in the United States. The key findings from the report include a lower rate of vaccination in rural areas. This MMWR also included a report on the latest estimates of HPV cancers in the United States, which found that HPV vaccination could prevent 92 percent of cancers estimated to be caused by HPV. To support healthcare professionals in making effective recommendations, addressing parents’ questions and concerns, and reinforcing the message that HPV vaccination is cancer prevention, the CDC has developed a number of educational resources.  The full MMWR report can be accessed here.

A HRSA study using 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health data highlights the need for universal prevention efforts and targeted services to address bullying among children and adolescents.

The study by HRSA researchers showed that 22.7% of children and adolescents aged 6–17 years were bullied by others, as reported by their parents or caregivers. Bullying victimization was slightly higher among 6-11 year olds than among 12-17 year olds (24.1% vs. 21.1%).

The results also reveal opportunities to improve access to mental health services for youth experiencing bullying.

Read the Journal of Child and Family Studies abstract.

A recent report by the anti-poverty group Oxfam America ranked all 50 states based on a variety of metrics, from whether workers can earn a livable wage, its friendliness to organized labor, and the support services it offers to workers. Based on those metrics, Pennsylvania finished 24th in the nation, finishing behind five of the Keystone State’s six neighbors.

“While the U.S. economy is thriving for some, it is leaving millions of working families behind. As the federal government has refused to advance labor laws that would help, most states have stepped up to make vital improvements in wages and conditions,” the study’s authors wrote.

Here’s how Pennsylvania’s neighboring states finished overall: Delaware (16), Maryland (13), New Jersey (12); New York (13), Ohio (20) and West Virginia (25).  The full report can be accessed here. 

The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) 2019 Executive Report provides quantitative data and analysis of primary care spend at the state and payer levels, as well as a window into the association between primary care spend and key patient outcomes. The report shows:

• Primary care investment as a percentage of total health care expenditures was low between 2011 and 2016, and it varied considerably across states and across payers
• An association between more primary care investment and better patient outcomes
• A description of legislative/regulatory efforts in 10 states to measure and report on primary care spend and to shift more resources into primary care

Read more.