The America’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HHFI) is a public-private partnership that provides grants, loans, and technical assistance to improve access to healthy food in low-income communities. The latest investment provided financial assistance to 14 food retail and food retail supply chain projects across 14 states through the Food Access Retail Expansion (FARE) Fund. Fifty percent of projects are located in rural areas and 29 percent of projects serve Very Low-Income Areas. The HHI FARE Fund is administered by Reinvestment Fund on behalf of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (See Ongoing Opportunities).

They are currently accepting funding inquiries for implementation grants. Check for eligibility and submit a Funding Inquiry form by August 18. Applications for loans and technical assistance are accepted on a rolling basis.

Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the creation of the CMS Digital Health Ecosystem. This announcement builds on the May 2025 request for information (RFI) issued jointly by CMS and the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) to solicit suggestions from stakeholders on ways to modernize the nation’s digital health ecosystem.

Drawing from the near 1,400 comments received from the RFI, CMS is calling on the healthcare industry – data networks, Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, health app developers, providers, and innovators – to voluntarily align around a shared framework for data and access that empowers people, improves care, and accelerates progress. CMS will launch key public infrastructure like the National Provider Directory, enabling modern identity on Medicare.gov, and expanding data-sharing capabilities.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) informed states that it does not anticipate approving new or existing Section 1115 Demonstrations that expand continuous eligibility or test workforce initiatives.

Under federal regulations, states generally must redetermine a beneficiary’s eligibility once every 12 months. Using Section 1115 waivers, states were allowed to expand continuous eligibility – increasing the length of time that individuals could stay enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP, instead of proving their eligibility annually.  States also used these waivers to test initiatives to expand the health workforce, such as student loan repayment and workforce training programs to recruit and retain providers, through the Medicaid program.

States with currently approved Section 1115 waivers for expanded continuous eligibility must notify beneficiaries about any changes to their current period of continuous eligibility and when the beneficiary will need to undergo their next redetermination. CMS will allow currently approved workforce initiatives in California, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, and Vermont to run their course.

Legislation to support and sustain a strong, well-trained nursing workforce across Pennsylvania that was introduced by state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski was approved by the House Labor & Industry Committee on July 1. Kosierowski’s legislation would establish the Nursing Shortage Assistance Program within the Department of Labor and Industry and would provide grants to qualified nursing servicers to assist nursing students with securing post-graduation employment and repaying student loans incurred while obtaining a nursing degree from an educational institution located in the commonwealth. Read more about the bill. 

A recent study published in the Journal of Graduate Medical Education examines how newly funded rural residency programs are implementing faculty development, a critical element for accreditation and long-term program success. Among the 43 Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) grant recipients reviewed, just over half engaged in some form of faculty development, with 37% offering structured, longitudinal programs and 51% reporting participation in activities like conferences or workshops. The findings highlight both the value and variability of faculty development strategies in rural settings and suggest a need for greater support and infrastructure to ensure consistent educator training across programs.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released a final recommendation statement on screening for intimate partner violence and caregiver abuse of older or vulnerable adults. The task force determined that clinicians should screen women of child-bearing age, including those who are pregnant and postpartum, for intimate partner violence. More research is needed to recommend for or against screening for caregiver abuse in older or vulnerable adults. The final recommendation is available here. 

Pursuant to a decision made in 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is announcing the upcoming closure of the CDC Publications Warehouse in September 2025. As we prepare for this transition, we want to ensure that our valuable resources are utilized effectively by our partners and grantees.

Key Details:

• Closure Date: September 2025
• Final Order Deadline: August 15, 2025

Please note that while we will no longer provide printed materials through this service, electronic versions will continue to be available at www.cdc.gov.

Action:

We encourage all CDC partners and grantees to take advantage of this opportunity to order printed publications that can aid in your health promotion efforts. Our materials cover a wide range of topics, including disease prevention, health education, and community health initiatives. There is no cost to order.

How to Order:

Visit the CDC Publications Warehouse website at CDC Publications On Demand to browse our catalog and place your orders before the August 15 deadline.

We appreciate your continued partnership and commitment to public health. Together, we can ensure that these important resources reach those who need them most.

From Becker’s Hospital Review

A sudden increase in telehealth use occurred after the declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), which led to the easement and removal of barriers to telehealth usage as well as modifications to payment policies for telehealth reimbursement. The PHE provided an opportunity to assess telehealth’s impact on health care costs for payers and patients. We conducted a systematic review in 2023 to understand the impact of telehealth use on health care costs during the COVID-19 pandemic across health conditions and telehealth modalities.  An updated search – in November 2023 – followed the same search strategy and methods as the initial systematic review.

Of 820 citations identified in the new search, 6 met the inclusion criteria for review. Most of the studies used a retrospective observational design to identify the differences in costs between the telehealth group and the comparator group. Three studies were conducted within the U.S. and three were conducted internationally. As with the first search, the conditions addressed and costs measured were heterogeneous. Overall, conclusions – consistent with the first review – add to the evidence that telehealth modalities are cost-saving compared to traditional in-person care at a patient perspective and can provide clinic efficiency gains and increases in billing revenue from the health care payer perspective.

Please click here to read the brief.

Rural Telehealth Research Center, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, 1008 RCP, Iowa City, IA 52242, Email: rtrc-inquiry@uiowa.edu, www.ruraltelehealth.org