Heart disease, cancer, and COVID-19 made up the top three killers in 2021, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report. With some people not getting vaccinated and the emergence of the delta variant, COVID-19 was cited as the underlying cause of more than 415,000 American deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently launched a new resource that allows users to map county-level trends in heart disease – identified by the CDC as one of the five leading causes of death in rural America.

Researchers evaluate a program to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and find that Community Health Workers can be an effective way to deliver lifestyle intervention to a medically underserved population.

On April 22, CMS issued a proposed rule to implement sections of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) that would simplify Medicare enrollment rules and extend the coverage of immunosuppressive drugs for certain beneficiaries.  Section 120 of the CAA makes changes to Original Medicare by revising the effective dates of coverage and allowing for the establishment of new special enrollment periods (SEPs) for individuals who meet exceptional conditions.  Section 402 of the CAA extends immunosuppressive drug coverage under Part B for certain individuals whose Medicare entitlement based on end-stage renal disease (ESRD) would otherwise end.  This rule also proposes other non-CAA-related changes to improve state payment of Medicare premiums, and a technical change related to how enrollment forms are referenced in regulations. According to MedPAC, about one-fifth of Medicare beneficiaries live in rural areas.  Comment by June 27. 

In April 2020, the U.S. Census Bureau launched a new project to inform on a range of topics experienced by households during the COVID-19 pandemic.  New questions for the Household Pulse Survey are being formulated, for example,  changing the focus of one vaccination question from reasons for not receiving the vaccine to reasons for not receiving a vaccine booster dose. The Department of Commerce invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on proposed and continuing information collections. Comments Requested by May 18. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMS, has a new, proactive plan to bring more equitable health outcomes to people in underserved and disadvantaged communities.  The CMS Framework for Health Equity calls for improved data collection, more culturally appropriate services, and broader access to health-related social services for those who receive care paid for by the nation’s largest health insurer.  This public health insurance covers nearly 64 million enrolled in Medicare and more than 83 million beneficiaries of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. Health equity goals for the 2022 Strategic Plan include incentivizing other insurers to enter single-issuer rural counties in the individual market.  CMS will host a Health Equity Symposium today at 1:00 pm to provide more details on the health equity plan.

To help assist agricultural workers in learning about diabetes, Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) has partnered with professional artist and collaborator Salvador Sáenz to create “Mi salud es mi tesoro: Un guía para vivir bien con diabetes,” or, “My Health is My Treasure: A Guide to Living Well with Diabetes.” This second edition comic book explores the topic through the full-color story of an agricultural farmworker whose recent diagnosis of diabetes prompts him to engage in conversations with other agricultural workers on topics of diet, exercise, and illness prevention while facing the unique hurdles of living a life of migration. The comic book is available in Spanish and English. In order to print the right number of comic books, MCN is asking organizations to pre-order in quantities up to 500. The comic book and shipping will be paid for by MCN.

Although compensation stagnated in the first year of the pandemic, doctors saw their salaries rebound by 7% by the end of last year, according to Medscape’s Physician Compensation Report released last week. The report includes financial details from about 13,000 physicians across 29 specialties and found primary care doctors earned $260,000 on average while specialists average $368,000. Of those specialties surveyed, plastic surgery averaged the highest compensation at $576,000 while public health and preventative medicine ranked lowest at $243,000.

Fighting a global pandemic on the frontlines of underserved communities has decimated the health center workforce with unprecedented rates of attrition. A new survey by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) reveals that 68% of health centers report a loss of workforce of up to 25 % in the last six months alone. Health centers are losing nurses more than any other staff, a trend that has brought into focus a worsening national crisis and an immediate challenge to future pandemic readiness. “The future of the Community Health Center workforce and our readiness to meet public health challenges is uncertain,” said Rachel Gonzales-Hanson, interim President and CEO of NACHC. “We must immediately invest in policies that will retain current health center staff, broaden the pipeline for the future workforce, and foster creative strategies at the community level for short and long-term solutions.” Read the entire press release from NACHC or download the report.

Investing in primary care as a preventative measure is associated with improved medical care quality, fewer hospital visits, and lower spending overall, a study has found. If all California providers spent as much on primary care as the highest investing health systems, they could avoid 25,000 acute hospital stays and 89,000 emergency department visits while saving $2.4 billion in healthcare spending a year, according to a study funded by the California Health Care Foundation, Covered California and the Milbank Memorial Fund. Read more.