The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting applications for grants to help agricultural producers maximize the value of their products and venture into new and better markets.

USDA is making the grants available under the Value-Added Producer Grants program. The grants help farmers and ranchers generate new products, create marketing opportunities, and increase their incomes through value-added activities.

Eligible applicants include independent producers, agricultural producer groups, farmer or rancher cooperatives, and majority-controlled producer-based business ventures.

USDA may award up to $75,000 for planning activities or up to $250,000 for working capital expenses related to producing and marketing a value-added agricultural product.

Planning activities may include conducting feasibility studies and developing business plans. Working capital expenses may include costs associated with processing, marketing, advertising, inventory and salaries.

USDA is particularly interested in applications that will advance Biden-Harris Administration priorities to:

• Reduce climate pollution and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural communities.
• Ensure all rural residents have equitable access to Rural Development (RD) programs and benefits from RD-funded projects; and
• Help rural communities recover economically through more and better market opportunities and through improved infrastructure.

Paper applications must be postmarked and delivered by mail, email or in person to the state office where the project is proposed by close of business on April 16, 2024. Electronic applications will be accepted via Grants.gov until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 11, 2024.

Additional information is available on page 2919 of the Jan. 17 Federal Register.

If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.

Contact information in Pennsylvania: If you are in Pennsylvania and have questions about this program, please contact Karen Kuhns, area specialist for the Rural Business and Cooperative programs, at 724-261-3893 or karen.kuhns@usda.gov.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will issue a final rule that places new requirements on Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations, Medicaid managed care plans, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) managed care entities, state Medicaid and CHIP Fee-for-Service (FFS) programs, and Qualified Health Plan (QHP) issuers on the Federally Facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) to improve the electronic exchange of healthcare data and streamline processes related to prior authorization. This final rule will also add a new measure for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) under the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program and for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinicians under the Promoting Interoperability performance category of MIPS.

Weblinks

• Press Release: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-finalizes-rule-expand-access-health-information-and-improve-prior-authorization-process
• Fact Sheet: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/cms-interoperability-and-prior-authorization-final-rule-cms-0057-f
• Final Rule: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/cms-0057-f.pdf

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced a new model to test approaches for addressing the behavioral and physical health, as well as health-related social needs, of people with Medicaid and Medicare. The Innovation in Behavioral Health (IBH) Model’s goal is to improve the overall quality of care and outcomes for adults with mental health conditions and/or substance use disorder by connecting them with the physical, behavioral, and social supports needed to manage their care.  The model will also promote health information technology (health IT) capacity building through infrastructure payments and other activities.

The IBH Model will be tested by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMS Innovation Center). Under IBH, community-based behavioral health practices will form interprofessional care teams consisting of behavioral and physical health providers, as well as community-based supports. This new model supports the President’s mental health strategy and implements an action item in the HHS Roadmap for BH integration.

Read more.

Among fourteen categories that can be searched by state, topic, keyword, and year, the resource includes legislative topics on newborn screening, women’s health, childhood obesity and nutrition, maternal and infant mortality, maternal and child mental health and the impacts of substance use on the MCH population. The database goes back to 2017 and is kept up to date by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Read the full article here.

HRSA relies on grant reviewers to select the best programs from a competitive group of applicants. Over the coming months, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy will be competing a number of programs, including among other things: substance use disorders and opioid use disorder, rural workforce, and rural hospitals. Having reviewers with expertise in rural health greatly benefits the review process and is also an opportunity to learn about the review process itself. Reviews are typically held remotely over a period of a few days and reviewers who participate and complete their assigned duties receive an honorarium. Registration is easy and does not commit you to serving as a reviewer. Please consider lending your expertise to these important initiatives.

Read the full article here.

The online site is meant to help beneficiaries, provider organizations, and state-level Medicaid agencies better understand how individuals and families can renew coverage from Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or find better options.  The outreach materials are tailored to reach different populations, including by state, for people in rural areas, and various racial and ethnic communities.  The site also explains key government actions taken to support Medicaid renewals and transitions, as many are losing coverage in the post-pandemic policy shift known as Unwinding.  See Events below for an upcoming learning opportunity on January 24.

Read the full article here.

In 2021, Congress established this Federal Communications Commission program to increase access to the internet through monthly discounts for service and one-time payments to purchase a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet.  Without additional funding from Congress, the program is projected to run out of money in April 2024.  Households currently enrolled in the program will receive a notice from their internet service provider about the end of the benefit.  The FCC is still accepting applications until midnight Eastern time on February 7, but enrollees must have their eligibility approved and sign up with an internet service provider before this deadline.  Households who have applied, been approved, and are receiving the monthly internet discount before February 8, 2024 will continue to receive their ACP benefit until funds run out, as long as the household remains enrolled in the program.

Read the full article here.

From Becker’s

CMS has finalized a rule to streamline the prior authorization process and improve the electronic exchange of health information that it estimates will save $15 billion over 10 years.

The requirements generally apply to Medicare Advantage organizations, state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program agencies, Medicaid managed care plans, CHIP-managed care entities and qualified health plan insurers on the federally facilitated exchanges, according to a Jan. 17 CMS news release. The agency proposed the rule in December 2022.

Beginning primarily in 2026, certain payers will be required to include a specific reason when denying requests, publicly report certain prior authorization metrics and send decisions within 72 hours for urgent requests and seven calendar days for standard requests.

The rule also requires affected payers to implement a Health Level 7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard application programming interface to support electronic prior authorization.

“Together, these new requirements for the prior authorization process will reduce administrative burden on the healthcare workforce, empower clinicians to spend more time providing direct care to their patients and prevent avoidable delays in care for patients,” CMS said in the release.

The rule also finalizes API requirements to “increase health data exchange and foster a more efficient healthcare system for all.” CMS is delaying the dates for compliance from generally Jan. 1, 2026, to Jan. 1, 2027. Beginning in January 2027, affected payers will be required to expand their current patient access API to include information about prior authorizations and to implement a provider access API that providers can use to retrieve their patients’ claims, encounter, clinical and prior authorization data. CMS is requiring affected payers to exchange, with a patient’s permission, most of the same data using a payer-to-payer FHIR API when a patient moves between payers or has multiple concurrent payers.

The rule also adds a new electronic prior authorization measure for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals under the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program and for Merit-based Incentive Payment System eligible clinicians under the promoting interoperability performance category.