The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) produced a summary of the rural health provisions in COVID-19 relief legislation and highlights NRHA’s priorities for COVID-19 relief for rural health care.

The Department of the Treasury released details on usage of the $350 billion Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds from the American Rescue Plan. This money sends funds directly to various jurisdictions: states, counties, municipalities, and tribal governments. The funding has substantial flexibilities in use, including: public health expenditures, by – among other uses – funding COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral healthcare, mental health and substance misuse treatment and certain public health and safety personnel responding to the crisis. Additionally, the funds can be used to provide premium pay for essential workers and for investment in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure. NRHA is hopeful that various localities will use this funding to support their rural health safety net. We recommend rural organizations work with local leaders to understanding how the funding will be used in their communities.

The CDC is providing $9.95 million in funding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to improve vaccine confidence in rural areas.  NIFA will work with local partners through the Land Grant University System and its Cooperative Extension System, a nationwide educational network that provides non-formal higher education and learning to farming communities.

HRSA will provide claims reimbursement at the national Medicare rate for eligible health care providers administering vaccines to underinsured individuals. This may be particularly helpful in rural communities given higher rates of uninsured and underinsured.

HHS’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and HRSA are working to boost vaccination rates in a workforce often at heightened risk of COVID-19 infection. This effort builds on the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program, a program that directly allocates COVID-19 vaccines to HRSA-supported health centers, some of which directly provide care to this worker population.

A joint program of HHS and the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is available at no cost to hospitals caring for COVID-19 patients and struggling with access to enough critical care physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and other specialized clinical experts. Teams of critical care clinicians are available to deliver virtual care through lightweight telemedicine platforms, such as an app on a mobile device. Hear from participating clinicians and email to learn more and sign up.

HHS recently announced a new $250 million investment in a community-based workforce that, “Will serve as trusted voices sharing information about vaccines, increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence, and address any barriers to vaccination for individuals living in vulnerable and medically underserved communities.” This investment is a new part of the administration’s strategy to increase vaccine confidence in communities that are traditionally hard to reach, such as those in rural America. NRHA strongly supports this investment and the Biden Administration’s approach. NRHA has explained that rural Americans and other vaccine hesitant populations need to hear messages and receive help from the people they trust in their communities to administration officials and news media. We believe this new investment in a community-based workforce that focuses on increasing vaccine confidence will help increase vaccine uptake in rural communities.

Telehealth claim lines fell 15.7 percent nationally, decreasing from 7 percent of medical claim lines in January 2021 to 5.9 percent in February, according to FAIR Health’s Monthly Telehealth Regional Tracker. It was the first month-to-month drop in national telehealth utilization since September 2020. Telehealth usage also declined in all four US census regions, with the greatest drop in the West, where the decrease was 18.3 percent. The data represent the privately insured population, excluding Medicare and Medicaid. Read more.

This new checklist is designed to help health center administrators, managers, and care teams effectively leverage the skills and experience of Community Health Workers (CHWs) as part of vaccine rollout efforts. Health center teams have employed CHWs in essential rolls throughout the pandemic response and this resource, created by the National Association of Community Health Workers, will help onboard and incorporate them as part of the next stage. Access the Community Health Worker Checklist.