The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a revised Medicare Learning Network (MLN) chronic care management services booklet. Changes include new codes describing chronic pain management and treatment and information about principal illness navigation services and community health integration services.

 – Comment by October 15. In the final year 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) solicited public comments to aid in the collection of information to determine future criteria to establishing a new graduate medical residency. In the final rule, CMS noted they received a wide range of comments, and commenters did not arrive at a consensus on the best approach to the issue of the newness of residents. CMS chose not to finalize their original proposal, and is instead, seeking comment on the appropriate criterion for what constitutes a new residency program. The public may submit their feedback to GME_Program_Newness@cms.hhs.gov.

To ensure that individuals who are eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance program (CHIP) retain coverage, and to assist states in their continued transition to regular renewal processing, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing states additional time to complete eligibility renewals, address persistent backlogs in processing redeterminations, and ensure that states achieve compliance with federal renewal timeliness requirements. This Informational Bulletin outlines the duration and conditions under which states may use an exception in the regulations to delay timely processing of renewals in “unusual circumstances” through December 31, 2025.  The Medicaid continuous enrollment provision, which had halted Medicaid disenrollments during the public health emergency, ended on March 31, 2023, and since that time, over 25 million Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled and over 54 million have had their coverage renewed.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) awarded a new round of $100 million to 44 Navigator organizations helping underserved communities, consumers, and small businesses find and enroll in health coverage through HealthCare.gov, the Health Insurance Marketplace®. The grants are part of a commitment of up to $500 million over five years. Navigators offer free assistance to people exploring health coverage options through HealthCare.gov, from reviewing available plans to assisting with eligibility and enrollment forms, and post-enrollment services such as using their coverage to get care. Navigators can also assist people in helping enroll in or renew Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage.  To encourage smaller community-based organizations to become Navigators, CMS streamlined and simplified the application process this year, and they included requirements that Navigators focus their outreach on key underserved groups, including racial and ethnic minorities; rural communities; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer/questioning, asexual, plus (LGBTQIA+) communities; refugees; immigrants; families with low income; pregnant and expectant parents; and those who lack transportation, internet access, or English-language proficiency. Consumers can search for help locally or use Healthcare.gov to explore their health coverage options during Open Enrollment, starting November 1, or during a Special Enrollment Period if they qualify based on certain life changes or estimated household income.  Since 2018, the number of Marketplace plans in rural areas has grown increasing the choices of coverage available to consumers.

In March 2024, a summit was held in Clifton, Texas, bringing together leaders from six innovative and sustainable rural maternity programs. Insights from this summit are available in two reports.  The first shares case studies of the six participating rural maternity programs; the second describes strategies used by the programs’ leaders.

The 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data set is now publicly available. The BRFSS reaches participants on both landline and cellular telephones, collecting information on health risk behaviors, clinical preventive health practices, and health care access. The survey includes a representative sample of noninstitutionalized adults aged 18 years or older in each survey area. Understanding these data can provide important public-health insights into disparity, access, and reach.

Click here to learn more.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) State Director for Rural Development-Pennsylvania Bob Morgan announced that Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc., would receive USDA funding through the Empowering Rural America (New Era) program. Together, New ERA and other investments in rural clean energy in the President’s Inflation Reduction Act make up the largest investment in rural electrification since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Rural Electrification Act into law in 1936 as part of the New Deal.  This announcement includes more than $7.3 billion in financing for 16 rural electric cooperatives in rural communities across the country.

“Rural communities are driving positive change in America,” Morgan said. “Through the New ERA program, rural communities are leading the way toward a greener and more prosperous future, ensuring a better quality of life for families and a healthier planet for all.”

The New ERA investment will help Allegheny Electric Cooperative add significant carbon-free resources to its generation portfolio. Their innovative project will help serve energy needs in rural portions of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, while reducing the carbon footprint of Allegheny and its 14-member electric distribution cooperatives.

New ERA funding will allow Allegheny to meet over 80 percent of its power requirements from carbon-free resources by 2026 and reduce pollution and carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 100,000 tons annually. This proposal will reduce greenhouse gas pollution at a level equivalent of removing 22,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road annually. The opportunity to invest in clean energy resources makes Allegheny one of the most carbon-free generation and transmission cooperatives in America.

“We’re excited to be considered a selectee for New ERA funding,” said Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association and Allegheny Electric Cooperative, Inc. President and CEO Steve Brame. “As the generation provider for 14 electric distribution cooperatives, Allegheny’s job is to deliver a safe, reliable, and affordable supply of energy to our member systems and the rural communities they serve. Through the support of New ERA funding, our proposed project has the benefit of adding zero-emissions resources to our generation portfolio – while keeping energy costs down for these cooperative communities.”

The full announcement is available here: national news release.

Five new Appalachian Regional Commission ARISE grants drive multi-state collaboration to transform the regional economy.

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) announced $16.9 million in funding for five collaborative projects to expand the region’s infrastructure, tourism, business development and workforce opportunities. Funded through ARC’s Appalachian Regional Initiative for Stronger Economies (ARISE), these projects bring together more than 60 partners representing at least 270 counties across 10 Appalachian states—including one of Appalachia’s federally recognized Tribal Communities—to drive large-scale economic transformation. ARISE grantees announced today include:

• $8,000,000 to Save the Children Federation, Inc. to grow the region’s childcare and early education workforce in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia through training, credentialing, apprenticeships and technical assistance.
• $4,500,000 to the Beneficial Electrification League to modernize electric utility grid infrastructure in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
• $3,889,964 to the Appalachian Investors Alliance to establish micro-venture and angel funds for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and launch the Appalachian Venture Foundry to prepare businesses for investments, in Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia.
• $500,000 to Carnegie Mellon University to plan for the expansion of job skills matching and career support services in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
• $72,219 to the Pennsylvania Environmental Council to plan for improved trail connectivity to boost tourism in Pennsylvania and New York, including the Seneca Nation of Indians.

Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin announced the awards during ARC’s 2024 Annual Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She was joined by ARC’s 2024 States’ Co-Chair Governor Bill Lee and 600 federal, state and community leaders from across the 13-state Appalachian Region.

“By combining multi-state collaboration with innovative partnerships, ARC’s ARISE projects serve as models for how we can work as one, united Appalachia to maximize economic growth,” said ARC Federal Co-Chair Gayle Manchin. “I congratulate our newest ARISE grantees and am proud to have announced them in the presence of many of our federal, state, and local partners at ARC’s annual conference. I have no doubt that these ARISE projects—which include both planning and implementation grants—will build on previous successes and result in greater opportunities for our Appalachian people and communities.”

With today’s package, ARC has invested $88.2 million in 34 ARISE projects to support the development of new economic opportunities across all 13 Appalachian states.

Made possible through support from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, ARISE drives large-scale, regional economic transformation through collaborative multi-state projects.

To learn more about the new ARISE grantees, visit www.arc.gov/grants-and-opportunities/arise/arise-project-summaries/.

About the Appalachian Regional Commission
The Appalachian Regional Commission is an economic development entity of the federal government and 13 state governments focusing on 423 counties across the Appalachian Region. ARC’s mission is to innovate, partner, and invest to build community capacity and strengthen economic growth in Appalachia to help the region achieve socioeconomic parity with the nation.

The Pennsylvania Action Coalition is excited to announce that as an outcome of the thorough strategic planning process that we engaged in over the past several months, we have a new 5-year strategic plan and we will be refreshing our brand as the Pennsylvania Nursing Workforce Coalition (PA-NWC)!

A few notes about this change:

• We are calling this a “brand refresh” and not a “rebrand” because we want to be clear that the components of our structure are not changing. This includes the PA-NWC’s functioning as a program of the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC), and our Advisory Board structure as a coalition with organizations as members and individual representatives.
• We look forward to strengthening our position as Pennsylvania’s Nursing Workforce Center. The PA-AC has “housed” Pennsylvania’s Nursing Workforce Center since 2016 when we became a part of the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. The “brand refresh” is just making this work more front and center.
• The PA-NWC will continue its strong relationship with the Future of Nursing reports and the Future of Nursing Campaign for Action. Our feedback expressed that one of our core strengths was our anchor in the national framework of the Future of Nursing’s goals and that our participants continue to feel connected to and inspired by its principles. Many other nursing workforce centers across the country are simultaneously their state’s Action Coalition and workforce center.

Learn more about our new strategic plan and the process that we followed at the link below! Stay tuned for additional materials and communications as well. We are excited to work with you in our new chapter as the PA-NWC.