The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced on Tuesday that it is considering a large-scale “transformation,” and that as a first step, HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care Associate Administrator Jim Macrae will lead a one-month effort to “kick off an evaluation of CDC’s structure, systems, and processes.” The CDC’s efforts are largely in response to widespread criticism about its performance as the lead national agency in the COVID-19 response. Jim’s one-month effort is scheduled to begin on April 11, and he will be supported by three senior CDC officials. It is expected that Tonya Bowers will fill in for Jim during his brief absence.

On Monday, April 4, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced there was a bi-partisan agreement on legislation to fund a $10 billion package for coronavirus relief. The agreement includes $9.25 billion for therapeutics, testing, and vaccines and $750 million to research future variants. The legislation is fully offset by unspent funds from previously passed COVID-19 funding packages. Senator Schumer and House Leadership aimed to pass the legislation this week, but the bill stalled in the Senate because of a partisan fight over whether to allow a vote on an amendment to reinstate the Title 42 restrictions that had been used to deny migrants’ asylum claims at the U.S.-Mexico border. Congress is now in recess.

On April 5, President Biden signed an Executive Order to strengthen the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by fixing the “Family Glitch” which made health coverage unaffordable for thousands of families. Under the current rules, employer-based coverage was seen as affordable if the coverage was for the employee only, and not for family members. If affordable for the employee, families were ineligible for tax credits even though they may need them to afford marketplace coverage. Coverage for family members of the employee was often very expensive and caused many to go without coverage. The “Family Glitch” affects more than 5 million people and has shut consumers out of affordable coverage and tax credits. This Executive Order proposes to eliminate the “Family Glitch” and will allow families to access tax credits on the marketplace. If made final, the rule would take effect in 2023.

The Pennsylvania A Department of Human Services (DHS) visited Scranton Primary Health Care Center this week to celebrate Pennsylvania’s extension of postpartum coverage for mothers and birthing people eligible for Medicaid because of their pregnancy to one year after giving birth. The change, effective April 1, 2022, was made possible to states as part of the American Rescue Plan Act. Typically, Medicaid (Medical Assistance in Pennsylvania) coverage for people eligible due to their pregnancy ended 60 days after giving birth. Expanding postpartum coverage for mothers covered through Medicaid will provide continuity in health care by allowing mothers to maintain relationships with and access to care providers undisrupted through a critical period in the mother’s life Read more.

April is National Donate Life Month, and HRSA is celebrating how sweet life is when someone who needs an organ transplant finds a match. Help celebrate and honor the generosity of organ, eye, and tissue donors, donor families, as well as the lives saved through donation. This year’s theme is “Bee a Donor!” and HRSA encourages health centers to help create a buzz and to “bee” part of this life-saving community. Thank you for all you do to promote organ donation and encourage more donor registrations!

Fenway Health has created a communications toolkit with talking points, social media graphics, and letters to the editor for anyone doing advocacy around transgender/gender diverse youth. The toolkit is focused on health care and everything is derived from a policy brief Fenway published late last year about the potential harms to health posed by the spate of anti-trans youth bills filed in states across the country in 2021.

Five-Year Trends in U.S. Children’s Health and Well-being, 2016-2020, a Maternal Child Health Bureau study using their National Survey of Children’s Health data was recently published in the JAMA Pediatrics. A 29% increase in anxiety and 27% increase in depression over the five-year period was noted along with during the period of 2019-2020 (the first part of the pandemic) there was a 34% increase in parents who reported they quit, declined, or changed jobs due to child-care problems in the past 12 months, 32% increase in unmet health care needs, a 20% increase in behavioral/conduct problems, and a 9% reduction in preventive medical visits. You can also read an editorial that accompanied the article, Adversity and Opportunity – The Pandemic’s paradoxical Effect on Child Health and Well-being.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) seeks comment on revisions to its initiatives to fund access to broadband and telecommunication services for rural healthcare providers. FCC proposes to modify the way the internal funding cap applies to upfront costs and multi-year commitments in the Healthcare Connect Fund Program and to streamline the invoice process in the Telecommunications Program. The rule also seeks comments on ways to further increase the speed of funding commitments.