Through RFA 67-126, the Pennsylvania Department of Health will provide funding to community-based health care clinics to reduce COVID-19 related health disparities among minority, underserved, and rural populations.

Click here to access the website.  Proposals are due on October 28, 2021.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it is accepting applications to support economic development and create jobs for people in rural America.

USDA is making this funding available under the Rural Business Development Grant program for eligible entities to support business opportunity and enterprise projects in rural communities. Eligible entities are rural towns, communities, state agencies, authorities, nonprofits, federally recognized tribes, public institutions of higher education and non-profit cooperatives.

Business opportunity projects are used to identify and analyze business opportunities that will use local rural materials or human resources. Such projects must be consistent with any local and area-wide community and economic development strategic plans and are used to support other economic development activities in the project area. Projects include the establishment of business support centers or to finance job training and leadership development in rural areas. Funding for business enterprise projects must be used to finance or develop small and emerging businesses in rural areas. Enterprise projects include the repair or modernization of buildings, technical assistance to a small business such as feasibility studies or business plans, or an equipment purchase for leasing to a small or emerging business.

In Fiscal Year 2022, USDA anticipates that part of the funding will be set aside for federally recognized Native American tribes, Rural Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities/Rural Economic Area Partnerships, projects located in Persistent Poverty areas, including those of Native Americans, and for Strategic Economic and Community Development (SECD) projects. Eligible applicants for the persistent poverty and SECD set-aside funds must demonstrate that 100 percent of the benefits of an approved grant will assist beneficiaries in the designated areas.

Applications for grant funding, including all set-aside funds, must be submitted to the USDA Rural Development State Office for the state where the project is located by 4:30 p.m. local time on Feb. 28, 2022. For additional information, visit Grants.gov or see page 53270 of the Sept. 27, 2021, Federal Register.

USDA Rural Development encourages applicants to consider projects that will advance key priorities under the Biden-Harris Administration to help rural America build back better and stronger. Key priorities include combatting the COVID-19 pandemic; addressing the impacts of climate change; and/or advancing equity in rural America.

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

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a fact sheet to help states and advocacy organizations understand what health coverage options are available to Afghan Evacuees.

Most evacuees arriving in the United States will be eligible for health coverage through Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Health Insurance Marketplace, or refugee medical assistance (RMA).  RMA is provided through the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and administered in most cases by state Medicaid programs.  Eligibility for each coverage program depends upon the immigration status of the evacuee and the state where an evacuee is residing.

Learn more here: https://medicaid.gov/medicaid/eligibility/downloads/hlth-cov-option-afghan-evac-fact-sheet.pdf

Summary from the National Rural Health Association

On Thursday, September 9, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra released a comprehensive plan to lower prescription drug prices. The plan was released in response to the larger Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy released by the Biden Administration earlier this summer. In the Executive Order, the Administration outlined areas where a lack of competition was a driving force in problems across economic sectors, including in prescription drug access and pricing. In the report, HHS identifies that Americans spend more than $1,500 per person on prescription drugs, while paying prices that are higher than our international counterparts. With that, brand name drugs continue to rise in cost faster than inflation.

To address this growing issue, the Administration has outlined three guiding principles for the Drug Pricing Plan:

1. Make drugs more affordable and equitable for all consumers and throughout the health care system.
2. Improve and promote competition throughout the prescription drug industry.
3. Foster scientific innovation to promote better health care and improve health.

The Administration has placed an outline for what they would like to see legislatively to accomplish this, most of which is being proposed through the ‘Build Back Better’ (BBB) plan being negotiated currently on Capitol Hill. Some of these provisions they’re supportive of include:

• Drug pricing negotiation in Medicare Parts B and D, with those negotiated prices also available to commercial plans.
• Part D reform, including a cap on catastrophic spending.
• Legislation to slow price increases on existing drugs.
• Legislation to speed the entry of bioslimilar and generic drugs.
• Prohibition on ‘pay-for-delay’ tactics.

While supporting actions being discussed on Capitol Hill, the Administration also plans to consider taking actions at the Department level to address this issue. Some of these provisions include:

• Test models using value-based payments in Part B, in which payments for drugs is directly linked to the clinical value they provide patients.
• Test models providing additional cost-sharing support to Medicare Part D Low-Income Subsidy Beneficiaries for using biosimilars and generics.
• Data collection from insurers and PBMs to improve transparency about prices, rebates, and out-of-pocket spending.
• Work with states and Tribes to develop drug importation programs.

In sum, the Biden Administration is working to promote lower prescription drug prices. To do so, from our interpretation, they are exploring new test models at the Department level, but primarily throwing weight behind prescription drug reform legislation being discussed on Capitol Hill.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released guidance through a CDC Health Advisory for clinicians caring for individuals recently evacuated from Afghanistan. They should be on alert for cases of measles that meet the case definition, as well as other infectious diseases, including mumps, leishmaniasis, and malaria among evacuees that includes both Afghan nationals and U.S. citizens from Afghanistan. Clinicians should immediately notify their local or state health departments of any suspected cases of measles as well as recommend the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine for unvaccinated patients. The CDC also recommends that evacuees also get up to date on vaccinations for varicella, polio, COVID-19 and season influenza.

Learn more about this guidance.

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) announced that the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development will receive $7,122,756 in discretionary funding for its Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP). This program works to prevent and end youth homelessness across Pennsylvania. Sen. Casey supported this funding in the Fiscal Year 2019 and 2020 appropriations bills. The YHDP is designed to support communities in rural, suburban and urban areas to develop and implement a coordinated community approach to preventing and ending youth homelessness.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Justin Maxson and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development Katie Hamm unveiled a joint resource guide to help people in rural and Tribal communities increase access to child care services.

“Access to quality, affordable child care and early learning opportunities is imperative for rural America. It enables parents to work, strengthens the economy and supports children’s overall development by laying the groundwork for future success in school and life,” Maxson said. “Under the leadership of President Biden, Vice President Harris and Secretary Vilsack, USDA remains committed to helping rural and Tribal communities build back better by strengthening child care infrastructure and by meeting the increasing demand for affordable, quality child care for working families.”

Hamm added: “The first few years of life, particularly birth to five, set the foundation for development, learning, behavior and lifelong outcomes. Various studies have shown that access to high-quality early childhood education is associated with positive life outcomes. That’s why I am so excited about this guide and the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing support for early learning and child care. It is so important that we continue to invest in early childhood infrastructure and supply building – particularly in rural and Tribal communities – where child care and early childhood development options are already limited. We are committed to working with these communities to meet the growing need for quality, affordable early childhood programs.”

The joint resource guide follows the Biden-Harris Administration’s announcement of the American Families Plan (AFP). The guide responds to the AFP, which targets investments to support America’s children and families – helping families cover the basic expenses that so many struggle with now, including lowering health insurance premiums and continuing the American Rescue Plan’s historic reductions in child poverty.

The guide was developed in partnership by USDA Rural Development and the Office of Early Childhood Development in HHS’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF). It provides useful information to help stakeholders in rural communities – including Tribes and Tribal organizations – address the need for improved access to affordable, high-quality child care and early learning facilities through USDA and HHS funding and technical assistance resources.

Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, Tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.

ACF promotes the economic and social well-being of families, children, individuals and communities. ACF programs aim to empower families and individuals to increase their economic independence and productivity; encourage strong, healthy, supportive communities that have a positive impact on quality of life and the development of children. For more information, visit: www.acf.hhs.gov, and to subscribe to the Office of Early Childhood Development’s newsletter, email: earlychildhooddevelopment@acf.hhs.gov.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.