Beginning January 1, 2027, some Medicaid recipients will be required to complete and report work requirements. Renewals will be every six months instead of annually to maintain benefits.
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has released a toolkit designed to help recipients, and those supporting them with enrollment and compliance, understand the upcoming changes. The toolkit includes outreach letters, flyers, social media graphics and downloadable FAQs.
The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) and the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center have released a new Best Practice Approach report, Integrating Oral Health Care into Primary Care.
The report highlights evidence-based strategies for integrating oral health screenings, fluoride, and oral health education into primary care settings. Community health centers interested in advancing whole-person care may find the resource helpful for planning or strengthening medical-dental integration efforts.
The Department of Justice released a memorandum stating its intent to equip the fraud division with new data analysis technology to target health care fraud in Medicare and Medicaid. Areas of focus include telemedicine, illegal prescribing of opioids, and other controlled substances.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated their website for the Campaign for Dental Health. The updates include focusing on the safety and facts about fluoride and a portal has been added for advocates to request support.
Headquartered in Camp Hill, PA, the Pennsylvania Trauma Systems Foundation (PTSF) is the accrediting body for trauma centers in Pennsylvania and supports hospitals in advancing trauma care to injured patients. From accreditation, to education, to trauma registry operations, and research support, the PTSF team is dedicated to supporting hospitals that serve injured patients in their region.
Click here for the most recent list of Trauma Centers in Pennsylvania, including Critical Access Hospitals that have been accredited as Level IV Trauma Centers.
The PTSF website includes information for Trauma Accreditation, the Trauma Registry, Research, and Performance Improvement.
The Consumer Credit Explorer, updated through Q2 2026, shows climbing delinquency rates — nearly 14 percent for credit card borrowers, over 9 percent for auto borrowers (a 20-year high), and over 13 percent for student loan borrowers.
Some regions show greater financial stress. Nearly 20 percent of credit card borrowers in the Vineland, NJ, metro area have severely delinquent debt, 6 points above the national average. Over 10 percent of Delaware’s auto borrowers carry severely delinquent debt, 1 point higher than the national average.
Explore the Philadelphia Fed’s Consumer Credit Explorer for detailed insights into U.S. credit and debt conditions at national, state, and regional levels.
Explore the Consumer Credit Tool!
The report details the way physical and behavioral healthcare integration can support patients with co-occurring behavioral health disorders and chronic physical issues. It discusses different levels of care integration, evidence-based approaches, and established models for care integration in different settings.
This report sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration also highlights a rural health clinic-based telepsychiatry model in South Carolina.
The Rural Health Value team has developed two new resources to help rural leaders assess readiness, build infrastructure, and advance clinically integrated network (CIN) strategies.
The first resource, Collaboration to Contracting: A Guide to Rural Clinically Integrated Networks, is a practical roadmap for developing and operating a rural CIN, includes guidance on governance, clinical integration, data infrastructure, financial sustainability, and payer contracting.
The team also developed a companion piece, Rural Clinically Integrated Network Readiness Assessment Tool, that provides a self-assessment to help organizations evaluate readiness, identify opportunities, and spark strategic conversations about CIN participation and value-based care.
This material was developed by Rural Health Value, funded by a cooperative agreement with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released guidance regarding the rural telecommunications rates for the Rural Health Care Program’s Telecommunications (Telecom) Program.
The Telecom Program helps eligible rural health care providers (HCPs) reduce the cost of telecommunications and voice services used to support telemedicine and telehealth by providing support for the difference between eligible rural and urban rates within a state. On August 7, 2026 the FCC released an order allowing previously approved rural rates to continue to be used for FY 2027 while the Commission completes its review. The rural rates are based on an applicant’s circumstances and the applicable rate-setting method.
To learn more about determining FY 2027 urban and rural rates, please review the FY 2027 Urban and Rural Rate tip sheet.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has identified eligible clinicians who attained Qualifying Alternative Payment Model Participant (QP) status for the 2024 performance period and earned an incentive payment for the 2026 payment year. When processing these payments, CMS was unable to identify a taxpayer identification number (TIN) associated with some QPs and therefore could not disburse their payments.
CMS has compiled a list of QPs for whom it could not identify an associated TIN; these QPs, as well as others who anticipated receiving an APM incentive payment but have not, should provide CMS with updated Medicare billing information and all required documentation by October 13, 2026. After that date, claims for a 2026 APM incentive payment based on QP status for the 2024 performance period will be forfeited, and CMS will not accept requests for additional payment review or reprocessing.
Additional information about the APM Incentive Payment and the QP determination methodology is available in the 2026 Learning Resources for QP Status and APM Incentive Payment and questions about submitting information through the Quality Payment Program website may be directed to the QPP Help Desk at 1-866-288-8292.
The due date is October 13, 2026.
