- Colorectal Cancer Is Rising among Younger Adults. Some States Want to Boost Awareness.
- Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust
- Food Stamps Go Further in Rural Areas — Until You Add Transportation Costs
- CMS Announces Resources and Flexibilities to Assist with the Public Health Emergency in the State of Texas
- CMS Proposes New Payments for Digital Health Under CY2025 PFS Draft Rule
- Improving Public Health by Strengthening Community Infrastructure
- Biden Harris Administration Proposes Policies to Reduce Maternal Mortality, Advance Health Equity, and Support Underserved Communities
- Nearly Half of U.S. Counties Don't Have a Single Cardiologist
- Randolph County, Ill. Turns Unused Part of Nursing Home Into State-Of-The-Art Behavioral Health Center
- Safe and Stable Housing Is a Foundation of Successful Recovery
- Rural RPM Program Is a Lifeline for Pregnant Women
- Expert: Rural Hospitals Are Particularly Vulnerable to Increasing Cyberattacks Targeting Healthcare Facilities
- Biden-Harris Administration Invests Over $200 Million to Help Primary Care Doctors, Nurses, and Other Health Care Providers Improve Care for Older Adults
- AJPH Call for Papers Special Section on Intersections of Public Health And Primary Care
- NIH HEAL Initiative Turns Attention to Pragmatic Trials in Rural Communities
Report: 10 Western States See Some Drug Overdoses Deaths Increase by Nearly 100%
By Liz Carey
The Covid-19 pandemic-related stress, isolation, and a wave of drugs contaminated with extremely potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl, are factors in a severe rise of deadly overdoses.
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Medicaid Policy Trends in 2020: COVID, Coverage and Costs
A recent post from NCSL highlights Medicaid 2020 legislative actions across the country from coronavirus to cost controls―trends that are expected to continue into 2021 sessions.
The NCSL blog post was produced through HRSA’s cooperative agreement with the National Organizations of State and Local Officials (NOSLO).
Rural Health System Part of Operation Warp Speed Trials for Covid-19 Treatments
By Liz Carey
On the Canadian border of Upstate New York, a small health system is a rare example of rural-based clinical trials for treating Covid-19.
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White House Staffers Brief Rural Health Advocates on Biden’s American Rescue Plan
By Liz Carey
The Biden administration wants to provide vaccines to federally qualified health centers serving hard-to-reach populations. Also on the table is $160 billion in community support for supplies, testing, and public health personnel.
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Rural Transit Systems Must Balance the Safety of Passengers and Drivers
By Olivia Weeks
The pandemic challenged rural transit systems with maintaining their services and keeping everyone on board safe.
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Rural Covid-19 Cases Drop While Rural Death Rate Holds Steady
By Tim Murphy and Tim Marema
The impact of the winter surge continues to be felt in the number of Covid-related deaths that occurred in rural America last week.
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Walgreens and Uber Partner to Offer Free Rides to Vaccination Sites
Uber and Walgreens on Tuesday announced they will join forces to offer communities of color free rides to vaccination sites. The pandemic has disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic people, and initial vaccination data already shows that people of color are being vaccinated at lower rates than white people. People of color also tend to have fewer pharmacies per capita and are also less likely to say that they have been vaccinated or know someone who has. Walgreens and Uber’s initiative will “make it easier to connect people with vaccine appointments, and [offer] free transportation to Walgreens vaccine clinics among socially vulnerable communities.” Both companies will work with the National Urban League to offer education programs to address vaccine hesitancy. People will be able to schedule rides via the Uber app once they have a vaccination appointment.
Women Fly to Record High and then Crash to 33-Year Low
Women in the U.S. hit a milestone in February 2020 when, for the first time in history, they held the majority of non-farm payroll jobs, outnumbering men in the workforce, Axios reports. One year later, women’s labor force participation is at a 33-year low. According to experts, helping mothers get back to work is vital to the health of the U.S. economy. There will be long tail effects that hurt working women and mothers long after the pandemic is over. Read more.
Waived and Suspended Licensing Regulations
Due to the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), additional healthcare practitioners will be needed to treat ill Pennsylvanians. This need may extend beyond the capacity of the professionals currently licensed by Pennsylvania’s health-licensing boards. To increase the available number of practitioners, the Department of State requested a suspension from Gov. Wolf to several provisions that create barriers to temporary licensure. The following list details the suspensions granted by the governor and provides additional information for healthcare professionals on how to obtain temporary licenses.
- Waiver Allows Some Retired Physicians and Nurses to Administer the COVID-19 Vaccine: The Department of State requested, and the governor approved, a temporary suspension of the renewal and reactivation provisions set forth in 63 P.S. §§ 213, 271.3, 422.10 and 422.25 and 49 Pa. Code §§ 16.15, 21.131, 21.156, , 25.271, to enable physicians and nurses whose Pennsylvania licenses lapsed, expired or were inactive within the last five years to administer COVID-19 vaccines without reactivating or renewing their licenses, provided they meet the specific qualification requirements … Read more
- Waiver Enables Medical Students to Administer COVID-19 Vaccines: As new COVID-19 cases soar across the Commonwealth and hospitals are stretched to capacity, Pennsylvania has initiated an unprecedented effort to administer COVID-19 vaccinations at record speed. Medical students quickly offered to step in to administer these vaccinations at locations across the Commonwealth. Read more
- New Waiver Allows Qualified Pennsylvania Vaccinators to Administer COVID-19 Vaccine to 16- and 17-Year-Olds: The overall purpose of this waiver/suspension is to expand the pool of COVID-19 vaccinators to help increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations. This waiver will help to align Pennsylvania’s response efforts with guidance and waivers issued by the federal government, as well as temporarily alter certain state regulations to make it possible for that alignment to occur. The Department requested, and Gov. Wolf approved, a temporary change in the age restriction set forth in 63 P.S. § 390-9.2 and 49 Pa. Code § 27.403 to persons who are “more than 16 years of age.” Read more
- State Board of Dentistry Identifies Acceptable Alternative to Live Patient Clinical Exam for Dental Hygienist Candidates During COVID-19: The live-patient aspect of the dental hygiene clinical examination shall continue to be temporarily waived. For those candidates who wish to take an alternative exam, the board will now accept the ADEX Manikin Examination for dental hygienists administered by CDCA and CITA in 2021 in lieu of issuing a provisional license to candidates for licensure… Read more
Reconciliation Bill Update
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce (E&C) committee released its draft language for its section of the COVID Rescue/ Reconciliation bill. The draft includes $7.6 billion for FQHCs, as well as $800 million for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). There is also a significant funding boost for Teaching Health Centers ($330 million), an incentive for the 12 remaining states to expand Medicaid and a provision that could potentially expand FQHC 340B savings on Medicaid drugs. An overview of these provisions was included in the summary of Wednesday’s weekly PACHC call. FQHC Look-alikes are included in the $7.6 billion in FQHC funding. More details will follow as the reconciliation bill is finalized.