- Colorectal Cancer Is Rising among Younger Adults. Some States Want to Boost Awareness.
- Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust
- Food Stamps Go Further in Rural Areas — Until You Add Transportation Costs
- CMS Announces Resources and Flexibilities to Assist with the Public Health Emergency in the State of Texas
- CMS Proposes New Payments for Digital Health Under CY2025 PFS Draft Rule
- Improving Public Health by Strengthening Community Infrastructure
- Biden Harris Administration Proposes Policies to Reduce Maternal Mortality, Advance Health Equity, and Support Underserved Communities
- Nearly Half of U.S. Counties Don't Have a Single Cardiologist
- Randolph County, Ill. Turns Unused Part of Nursing Home Into State-Of-The-Art Behavioral Health Center
- Safe and Stable Housing Is a Foundation of Successful Recovery
- Rural RPM Program Is a Lifeline for Pregnant Women
- Expert: Rural Hospitals Are Particularly Vulnerable to Increasing Cyberattacks Targeting Healthcare Facilities
- Biden-Harris Administration Invests Over $200 Million to Help Primary Care Doctors, Nurses, and Other Health Care Providers Improve Care for Older Adults
- AJPH Call for Papers Special Section on Intersections of Public Health And Primary Care
- NIH HEAL Initiative Turns Attention to Pragmatic Trials in Rural Communities
FCC Telehealth Funding – No, You Don’t Have to be Rural, Yes, You Need to be Prepared to Act Quickly
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) just approved an order to create a $200 million telehealth program to support healthcare providers responding to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic using funds appropriated as part of the CARES Act.
- The FCC published more information on how potential applicants can prepare to submit a grant application for up to $1 million to fund telehealth equipment and operations.
- The order addressed the requirements to obtain an eligibility determination from the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC); obtain an FCC Registration Number (FRN) and register with the System for Award Management.
- Please Note: While one of the required forms suggests that only rural providers are eligible for this funding opportunity, the FCC Order states in paragraph 16 that “the COVID-19 Telehealth Program will be open to eligible healthcare providers, whether located in rural or non-rural areas,” so non-rural providers should not be deterred from applying.
- Applications from healthcare providers will be accepted and processed on a rolling basis on a first come, first served basis as soon as application forms are published in the Federal Register.
FBI Background Checks in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging issued guidance on FBI background checks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal criminal background check sites have been identified as life-sustaining businesses and therefore may remain open to process FBI background checks, however, several of the fingerprint sites in Pennsylvania are closed. As provided in 35 P.S. § 10225.506, an applicant needing an FBI background check may be provisionally employed up to 90 days after applying for the criminal history report while waiting for the results of the FBI background check if specified conditions are met.
Pennsylvania Department of State Announces Additional Waived and Suspended Professional Licensing Regulations
Due to COVID-19, additional health care practitioners will be needed to treat ill Pennsylvanians. This need may extend beyond the capacity of the professionals currently licensed by Pennsylvania’s health-licensing boards. To increase the available number of practitioners, the PA Department of State requested a suspension from Gov. Wolf to several provisions that create barriers to temporary licensure. The Department announced the following suspensions and waivers this week:
- Additional Reactivation Requirements Suspension (applies to multiple Boards)
- Renewal Extension Speech-Language Pathologists & Audiologists
- Waiving Certain Requirements for Graduate Medical Trainees
Go to the Dept. of State website for a complete list of waived and suspended licensing regulations.
Pennsylvania Extending 2021 Open Enrollment Period
The Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority Board voted to change the 2021 Marketplace Open Enrollment Period (OEP), moving away from the shortened 45-day OEP of previous years. The enrollment period will be Nov. 1, 2020 to Jan. 15, 2021, 30 days more than last year’s period. The Board was able to change the OEP due to Pennsylvania changing to a fully state-based marketplace for the 2021 enrollment period. This change allows the commonwealth to make changes to the enrollment period and other procedures like adding Special Enrollment Periods for the 2021 period. Board members agreed more time was needed for consumer enrollment as 2021 will be the first year since the beginning of the Affordable Care Act that Pennsylvania will be operating its own exchange.
Congress Begins Discussions on 4th Stimulus Plan, Additional Funding for Paycheck Protection Program
As Members of Congress continue to work through negotiations on the next phase of their COVID-19 response, Congressional leadership is identifying priorities for future packages. Senate Majority Leader McConnell announced on Tuesday that the Senate plans to consider additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program later this week. The Senate reconvened on Thursday, April 9, to discuss additional assistance for small businesses but further action stalled. On a recent press call, Speaker Pelosi mentioned plans to set aside $10 billion for Community Health Center funding in the fourth major COVID-19 package, expected to be passed when Congress returns from recess later this month. Click here to see an outline of the proposed “Phase 4” response.
Pennsylvania’s FY2019-20 General Fund Revenue Excess Is Gone
The near shutdown of the state’s economy has negatively impacted General Fund revenue collections to the tune of nearly $300 million. For March, the Revenue Department reported revenue collections were $294.6 million, or 6.2 percent below estimate, wiping out the little excess revenue the state’s General Fund had built up during the first eight months of the current fiscal year. A substantial part of what will likely be a multi-billion-dollar revenue shortfall before the fiscal year concludes. Initial reports indicate that the state legislature is considering passing a 6-month budget through Dec. 31, 2020. This would allow the legislature to return in the Fall to pass another budget for the remaining six months with a better understanding of the state’s financial status.
Pennsylvania Releases Teledentistry Guidelines Related to COVID19 for Dentists, FQHCs and RHCs
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) released teledentistry guidelines for dentists, FQHCs and RHCs. The guidance encourages the use of teledentistry when available. On March 26, 2020, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) issued revised Guidance on COVID-19 for Dental Health Care Personnel in Pennsylvania, which directs facilities to cease all dental treatment except urgent and emergency procedures.
States Hit Hardest by COVID-19’s Impact on Tourism – WalletHub Study
With declining travel threatening to wipe out 5.9 million jobs by the end of April and the tourism industry greatly impacted by social distancing, WalletHub today released its report on the States Hit Hardest by COVID-19’s Impact on Tourism, along with accompanying videos.
To identify the states where tourism is most affected by COVID-19, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 10 key metrics. Our data set ranges from share of businesses in travel and tourism-related industries to travel spending per travel employee and presence of stay-at-home orders. Below, you can see highlights from WalletHub’s report and a Q&A with WalletHub analysts.
|
States with Most Impacted Tourism Industry |
States with Least Impacted Tourism Industry |
| 1. Hawaii | 42. North Dakota |
| 2. Montana | 43. South Dakota |
| 3. Nevada | 44. Mississippi |
| 4. Vermont | 45. Indiana |
| 5. Massachusetts | 46. Wisconsin |
| 6. Florida | 47. Alabama |
| 7. New Hampshire | 48. Nebraska |
| 8. District of Columbia | 49. Oklahoma |
| 9. New York | 50. Iowa |
| 10. California | 51. Arkansas |
Key Stats
- New York has the highest share of businesses in travel and tourism-related food industries, 12.19 percent, which is 1.8 times higher than in Utah, the lowest at 6.89 percent.
- Nevada has the highest share of employment in travel and tourism-related accommodations industries, 16.09 percent, which is 23 times higher than in Ohio, the lowest at 0.70 percent.
- The District of Columbia has the highest share of travel and tourism consumer spending, $19,869, which is 10.8 times higher than in Ohio, the state with the lowest at $1,847.
- Connecticut has the highest travel spending per travel employee, $168,811, which is 2.2 times higher than in Mississippi, the state with the lowest at $76,458.
- The District of Columbia has the highest default probability on loans of businesses in the travel and tourism-related accommodations industry, 3.85 percent, which is 1.8 times higher than in Alaska, the state with the lowest at 2.17 percent.
To view the full report and your state’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/states-hit-hardest-by-covid-impact-on-tourism/72974/
Federal Reserve Survey on Impact of COVID-19 on Communities
The Federal Reserve System is conducting a survey to understand and help inform how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting organizations that support community needs. Please take a moment to complete the survey today!
Take the survey.
States, Including Pennsylvania, Announce Regional Efforts to Restart the Economy
Route Fifty, Bill Lucia
Two blocs of states, one in the east and the other on the west coast, separately unveiled plans on Monday to coordinate on combating the coronavirus outbreak and eventually reopening their regional economies when the initial threat from the deadly disease that the virus causes subsidies.
In the east, the governors of six states—New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island—said that they were creating a multi-state council that would focus on restoring the economy and developing a regional framework to gradually lift stay-at-home orders and other restrictions that have been put in place to control the spread of the virus.
“The state boundaries mean very little to this virus,” said New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
He explained that each state would be represented within the council initiative by a public health official, an economic development official, and the governor’s chief of staff. These officials will form a working group, the governor said, which will focus on designing a reopening plan that accounts for both public health and economic concerns.
Cuomo said he didn’t believe the council’s work would lead to a fully common strategy across the region, given that there will be different circumstances surrounding the virus within each state. “If unison isn’t possible,” he said, “let’s at least know what each other is doing so we’re not counterproductive with each other.”
The three west coast states of Washington, Oregon and California moved in a similar direction, with their governors announcing an agreement that they would work together on a shared approach for restarting their economies and controlling the disease going forward.
In a joint statement, the western governors emphasized that this effort would be data-driven and would involve identifying “clear indicators for communities to restart public life and business.”
“We need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening, and we will be working in coordination to identify the best metrics to guide this,” they added.
The announcements on regional cooperation came as President Trump tweeted on Monday that it would be up to him and the federal government to decide when the appropriate time would be “to open up the states.” But he also said he would work with governors on this.
Cuomo responded to Trump’s comments by pointing out that the federal government had largely left it to the states to decide how and when to adopt restrictions aimed at controlling the virus.
The governor didn’t voice outright opposition to an approach where the federal government has greater input over when these sorts of policies are reversed. “If they want to change the model, they can change the model,” he said.
“But then change the model and explain it,” he added. “What does that mean, the federal government is in charge of opening?”
Covid-19, the respiratory illness that the virus causes has now claimed upwards of 23,000 lives nationwide since late February. And there are over 570,000 confirmed cases in the U.S.
To help slow the spread of the virus, government officials have ordered people to stay at home, except for essential trips, like going to the grocery store, and they’ve called on a wide range of businesses to close. This has resulted in a massive disruption to the economy.
As the weeks wear on with these measures in place, an increasingly pressing question has become how the nation will begin dialing back the restrictions on commerce and personal travel, and begin shifting the country back towards some semblance of normalcy.
On Monday, neither of the groups of governors offered a specific timeline for when these sorts of restrictions might finally be lifted, or when different types of businesses would be permitted to reopen.
Cuomo did say that the eastern states council would begin talking on Tuesday and he expects that the group will come up with a game plan of some sort within weeks.
He also noted that it appears cases in New York had reached a plateau and were not rising at the same high rate that they had been. The New York City region, in particular, had become one of the nation’s epicenters for the virus outbreak in recent weeks.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, said the number of new cases in his state still hadn’t leveled off. “We’re not out of the woods yet,” he said. “An economic recovery only occurs on the back of a complete health care recovery and that order is essential.”