The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) has changed the URL domain name for the PROMISe portal, which is the claims processing, provider enrollment, and user management information system for DHS. All providers must enroll in this portal in order to participate with the Department of Human Services.
Please update this URL in any resources and share this news with current and future participating providers.
Pennsylvanians can shop for the lowest costs on high-quality health insurance during Open Enrollment which begins November 1 with December 15 being the deadline for coverage beginning New Year’s Day.
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As part of it’s comprehensive topic guide, the Rural Health Information Hub recently added a map of Rural Emergency Hospitals as of July 2024.
– Respond by December 9. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) seeks comments on their request to extend requirements for collecting information specified in OSHA’s COVID-19 Recordkeeping and Reporting in Healthcare Standard, which applies to settings where any employee provides healthcare services. The requirements include establishing and maintaining a log of each instance identified by the employer that an employee is COVID-19 positive; making the individual log entry available upon request for examination and copying; and reporting to OSHA each work-related COVID-19 fatality and each work-related COVID-19 in-patient hospitalization within specific timeframes of the employer learning of them. OSHA would like to hear from the public:
OSHA will summarize responses when they submit their request to the Office of Management and Budget to extend the requirements.
Among key findings in this brief from the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center:
In response to a court order, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized appeals processes for certain Medicare beneficiaries who are initially admitted as hospital inpatients but are subsequently reclassified as outpatients receiving observation services during their hospital stay, along with other eligibility criteria. This final rule establishes processes for standardized appeals, expedited appeals, and retrospective appeals for beneficiaries, and it extends the timeframe for providers to submit a claim following a favorable decision and to submit records as requested by a contractor. While CMS estimates a relatively low number of appeals that meet these criteria, they acknowledge that there will be administrative costs for hospitals to accommodate the new appeals process. This final rule is effective October 11, 2024.
– Respond by December 9. In response to an Executive Order to lower prescription drug costs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed a model to test whether a simpler approach to offering low-cost, clinically important generic drugs can improve medication adherence, lead to better health outcomes, and improve satisfaction with the Part D prescription drug benefit for people with Medicare and for prescribers. This RFI aims to obtain input from a broad range of interested parties to support continued development of the model.
A survey by Gallup and West Health showed that accessing health care may be easier for residents in some states due to low costs, high rates of health insurance coverage and an abundance of health care providers. The survey found that Pennsylvania has the sixth highest number of primary care physicians per 10,000 residents (19.78) and the sixth highest number of specialist physicians per 10,000 residents (22.01). Read more.
The latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) highlights just how connected Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are to adolescent health. Billed as the most comprehensive data yet on this subject, the report concludes that preventing ACEs could reduce suicide attempts by as much as 89 percent, prescription pain medication misuse by as much as 84 percent, and persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness by as much as 66 percent. Earlier this year, the CDC issued a Rural Policy Brief showing suicide rates have been consistently higher in rural areas than in urban areas over the past two decades. Between 2000-2020, suicide rates increased 46 percent in non-metro areas compared to 27.3 percent in metro areas. A separate CDC Rural Policy Brief on suicide prevention released in July features a case study from a successful program for adolescents in tribal community in New Mexico. In 2018, the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services delivered an in-depth report on the rural context for ACEs, with recommendations for federal policy.
A new legislative study urges state officials in Pennsylvania to take a comprehensive look at the impact of housing on public health and the way that housing services under the Medical Assistance (MA) program address health care. The study by the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee (LBFC) is part of a growing emphasis on the issue of housing availability and affordability in Pennsylvania. Gov. Josh Shapiro issued an executive order last month directing the state Department of Community and Economic Development to work with groups to deliver a Housing Action Program within one year. Among the study’s recommendations are that the Governor’s Office and General Assembly convene a working group to address housing and health issues, including use of resources. It also recommended that the state Department of Human Services (DHS) develop more data on MA housing program health impacts and give counties more flexibility to increase the maximum fee allowed by law for affordable housing trust funds. Under a 1992 state law, counties have the option to raise revenue from recording fees on deeds and mortgages and establish trust funds for affordable housing.
