Rural Health Information Hub Latest News

Medicare Telehealth Legislation Takes Another Step Forward

Last week, the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee advanced a two-year extension of Medicare telehealth payment policies to the full Energy & Commerce Committee. The bill, H.R. 7623, the Telehealth Modernization Act of 2024, includes a two-year extension of current policies and would also ensure that Medicare reimburses telehealth visits at the same rate as in-person visits. This payment parity language, along with the rest of the policy extensions, passed the subcommittee by a 21-0 bipartisan vote. The full Committee will consider the bill in the coming months.

New Study Provides Summary on Rural Behavioral Health Workforce Retention

According to a new study by the Provider Retention and Information System Management (PRISM), behavioral health professionals who had an experience with rural health care during their training are more likely to work and stay in rural areas when they enter practice. PRISM’s Behavioral Health study that was published by The Journal of Rural Health is now available here. This study assesses the amount of exposure to care in rural underserved communities that behavioral health clinicians received during training and how it impacted their success and retention in rural safety net practices.

America is Experiencing More than a Red-Blue Divide

 

rural health Clinic

If you’re serving multi-generations like most Community Health Centers are, you’ll want to look at the charts in Washington strategist Bruce Mehlman’s Six-Chart Sunday newsletter. The infographics highlight some startling differences between older and younger generations across an array of topics, including values, economics, party identification, and happiness.

HRSA Regional Office Offers Free Presentation on Securing Federal Grants

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Region 3 Office, will present key steps and resources for seeking federal grants. Attendees will have a chance to learn about identifying HRSA grant opportunities, navigating the grant application process, and accessing technical assistance resources. In addition, the session will include tips from a current HRSA grantee and details on how to become a HRSA grant reviewer. Individuals at all levels of experience, from those considering a first grant submission to those with prior grant writing experience, are welcome. PLEASE NOTE: The registration site also includes the full grant writing series, Ready! Set! Write! Grant Writing from A to Z. Scroll down the page to register for the free federal session scheduled for Tuesday, June 4, 9:30–11:00 am. Click here to register!

Federal Poverty Income Guidelines for 2024 Released

The Department of Human Services (DHS) has announced implementation in Pennsylvania of the 2024 Federal Poverty Income Guidelines (FPIG), which were issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Jan. 17, 2024. The FPIGs are the basis for FQHC sliding fees and the income eligibility limits for several categories of Medicaid whose regulations are published in 55 Pa. Code (relating to human services) and administered by the PA Department of Human Services. Click here to read the notice in the PA Bulletin.

Senate Finance Committee Holds Hearing on Addressing SUD and Behavioral Health

On Thursday morning, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing: “Front Lines of the Fentanyl Crisis: Supporting Communities and Combating Addiction through Prevention and Treatment.” This was a great opportunity to highlight for Senators the great work that health centers are doing in behavioral health. PACHC sent background information on the impactful work being done by Pennsylvania’s FQHCs to Senator Casey, who is a member of the Committee. Dr. Abigail Herron, who works for an FQHC in New York state, testified at the hearing.

ICYMI:  Explore HeatRisk Forecast Tool

In case you missed it: last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention created the nation’s first health-based alert system and heat guidance for clinicians. As part of this effort, the CDC also provides a HeatRisk Dashboard with resources for high-heat days, details on local air quality, and actions to stay safe in these conditions.  Finally, the CDC has a site with clinical guidance for heat health, focused initially on treating children with asthma, pregnant women, and people with cardiovascular disease.

 

CMS Now Accepting Applications for Joining the Medicare Shared Savings Program

Apply by June 17.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now accepting applications for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, in which groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers collaborate,  with the goal of offering coordinated high-quality care to people with Medicare. ACOs inexperienced with risk-based payments and who provide care to rural and underserved beneficiaries may be interested in Advance Investment Payments, and those interested in alternative payments for primary care providers may consider the ACO Primary Care Flex Model.  For both of these options, ACOs must first apply to the Shared Savings Program.  To learn more about the application process, register for the upcoming June 5 webinar on Completing Phase 1 of the Application and Avoiding Common Deficiencies. Email questions to SharedSavingsProgram@cms.hhs.gov.

HRSA Modifies Definition of Rural for FORHP Grants 

Comment by May 28. On April 26th, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) announced a proposed modification to the definition of ‘rural’ used to designate eligible areas for rural health grants. Because access to needed health care is likely to be reduced when roads are most difficult to traverse, FORHP proposes to modify the definition of rural areas by integrating the new Road Ruggedness Scale (RRS) released in 2023 by the Economic Research Service (ERS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The proposed modifications are based on a data-driven methodology to identify areas with difficult mountainous terrain.  All areas included in the current definition of rural would remain included.