Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s administration reminded Pennsylvanians of food assistance resources available and what actions it is taking to ensure access to food does not stop in spite of the COVID-19 mitigation efforts. 

Pennsylvanians who need help feeding themselves or their family should find and contact their local food bank or pantry through Feeding Pennsylvania and Hunger-Free Pennsylvania. 

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) is continuing to process applications and benefit renewals for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  Emergency SNAP applications can be expedited and issued in five days. Pennsylvanians can apply for SNAP online at www.compass.state.pa.us. 

DHS will continue to process application and renewal benefits, so people should continue to send in paperwork as usual. But, for anyone currently on SNAP who misses a deadline, who is not able to submit the paperwork or complete an interview or provide verifications for any reason during this emergency, DHS will ensure their SNAP benefit continues. DHS submitted a waiver request to the federal Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to ensure this continuity in benefits.  

The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has provided resources for Pennsylvanians to access emergency food assistance during COVID-19 mitigation, including locations of food banks and food pantries that are assisting individuals and families during this time. And to ensure that food banks and community feeding organizations remain operable with healthy volunteers, the department provided guidance for ways to limit contact while providing their essential services. 

Businesses who have resources to help feed and shelter Pennsylvanians in need are encouraged to fill out this survey to assist the task force as they look to direct resources. Any Pennsylvanian who is suddenly in need of food should complete this survey so the task force can better understand where resources should be directed 

The Senate package, expected to soon be passed by the Senate and then the House, promises a Marshall Plan for hospitals with possibly as much as $130 billion in immediate emergency relief for hospitals and rapid help on accessing needed supplies such as ventilators, masks, COVID-19 tests, and workforce.

Billions of additional dollars were included for hospitals because of your efforts. Also included are $150 million in rural HRSA grants, temporary relief from devastating sequestration cuts, a 15% increase in COVID-19 Medicare PPS reimbursement rates, and a critical $1 billion for tribes and IHS funding.

Rural providers will also have access to a $562 million small business emergency relief fund to keep doors open. It is unclear exactly how the healthcare system funding will be distributed, as legislative text has not yet been released.

March 23, 2020

Harrisburg, PA — Health care professionals licensed under any of the Department of State’s Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs (BPOA) licensing boards can provide services to patients via telemedicine during the coronavirus emergency.

“Telemedicine provides health care professionals flexibility to continue treating their patients while following best practices on social distancing as outlined by the Department of Health,” Secretary Boockvar said. “The department requested, and Governor Wolf granted us, the authority to allow health care professionals from out-of-state to treat Pennsylvania residents using telemedicine, when appropriate, due to COVID-19.”

This new guidance applies to the following boards:

• Chiropractic
• Dentistry
• Medicine
• Nursing
• Optometry
• Pharmacy
• Podiatry
• Psychology
• Osteopathic Medicine
• Nursing Home Administrators
• Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure
• Physical Therapy
• Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Professional Counselors
• Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology
• Veterinary Medicine

Currently, no Pennsylvania law prohibits the practice of telemedicine.

Additionally, the department is working with the governor’s office, the Department of Health and Department of Human Services to identify regulations and requirements that can be suspended to give medical providers and facilities the flexibility they need to respond to the crisis. We will publish these notifications on our website as they become available.

Governor Wolf also granted the department’s request for a suspension to allow licensed practitioners in other states to provide services to Pennsylvanians via the use of telemedicine, without obtaining a Pennsylvania license, for the duration of the emergency. Out-of-state practitioners must:

• be licensed and in good standing in their home state, territory or country.
• provide the Pennsylvania board from whom they would normally seek licensure with the following information prior to practicing telemedicine with Pennsylvanians:
  • their full name, home or work mailing address, telephone number and email address; and
  • their license type, license number or other identifying information that is unique to that practitioner’s license, and the state or other governmental body that issued the license.

Please submit the information requested above to the appropriate board resource account listed on the BPOA website.

All practitioners using telemedicine in Pennsylvania must remain informed on all federal and state laws, regulations and guidance regarding telemedicine, including a practitioner’s obligations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and  recent guidance provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Authorization to engage in telemedicine from a professional licensing standpoint is separate and apart from any insurance coverage/payment issues that fall under the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Insurance, or any other state or federal agency.

The Department of Human Services issued guidance for Behavioral Health Services Telemedicine  here. The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs released Telehealth guidance for their programs and providers here.

MEDIA CONTACT:  Wanda Murren, 717-783-1621

In these trying times of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to remember that we’re part of a global community of rural health professionals all fighting this virus together. The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and its Global Health Committee offer this perspective of opinion from the Australian National Rural Health Commissioner and Editor-in-Chief of Rural and Remote Health, Dr. Paul Worley. He provides insight into our collective efforts towards building rural community health infrastructure in the wake of pandemic. Dr. Worley describes four levels of integration with expected outcomes that are required so that rural systems of care can operate most effectively. Amazingly, these levels of integration and hopeful outcomes are consistent with NRHA’s approach in its advocacy, education, and research. Let’s work together across the globe to make this a reality for all rural communities.

Link: www.rrh.org.au/journal/article/5976

In keeping with its commitment to ensure states have the necessary tools to respond to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved an additional 11 state Medicaid waiver requests under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act (Act), bringing the total number of approved Section 1135 waivers for states to 13. The waivers were approved within days of states’ submitting them, and offer states new flexibilities to focus their resources on combatting the outbreak and providing the best possible care to Medicaid beneficiaries in their states. These waivers support President Trump’s commitment to operating a COVID-19 response that is locally executed, state managed and federally supported.

A copy of the press release can be found here:  https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-approves-medicaid-section-1135-waivers-11-additional-states-response-covid-19

These waivers, and earlier CMS actions in response to COVID-19, are part of the ongoing White House Task Force efforts. To keep up with the important work the Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19, visit www.coronavirus.gov. For a complete and updated list of CMS actions, and other information specific to CMS, please visit the Current Emergencies Website.

On March 23, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the preliminary results of a recent inspection of the Life Care Center nursing home in Kirkland, Washington – the epicenter of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in that state. The inspection, which the Agency conducted with the Washington Department of Social & Health Services, has helped inform CMS’s national strategy for keeping patients safe in nursing homes and other healthcare facilities. In keeping with the Trump Administration’s aggressive moves to combat further spread of COVID-19, CMS is also utilizing flexibilities allowed by President Trump’s Emergency Declaration to announce an enhanced, focused inspection process, informed in part by the Agency’s experiences on the ground in Kirkland, and close coordination and input from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This focused inspection process will be provided to all inspectors and facilities, and used on a national scale. Critically, this focused inspection process includes a self-assessment tool for providers to employ.

You can find a copy of the press release here: – https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-announces-findings-kirkland-nursing-home-and-new-targeted-plan-healthcare-facility-inspections  Please note that links to the guidance can be found in the press release.

You can find a copy of the fact sheet here:   – https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/kirkland-washington-update-and-survey-prioritization-fact-sheet

And Talking Points- CMS Administrator Seema Verma’s Remarks as Prepared for Delivery:  Updates on  Healthcare Facility Inspections in light of COVID-19– https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-administrator-seema-vermas-remarks-prepared-delivery-updates-healthcare-facility-inspections

This guidance, and earlier CMS actions in response to the COVID-19 virus, are part of the ongoing White House Task Force efforts. To keep up with the important work the Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19 click here www.coronavirus.gov. For information specific to CMS, please visit the Current Emergencies Website.

With states taking actions such as closing non-essential businesses, banning even small gatherings, and ordering people to shelter in place to fight the spread of the coronavirus, WalletHub today released updated rankings on the Most Aggressive States Against the Coronavirus, as well as accompanying videos.

To identify which states are taking the largest actions to combat coronavirus, WalletHub compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 46 key metrics. The data set ranges from tested cases of COVID-19 per capita to school closures, ICU beds, and shelter-in-place policies. Below, you can see highlights from WalletHub’s report, along with a summary of the largest rank changes from our previous report and a Q&A with WalletHub analysts.

Note: Rankings reflect data available as of 2 p.m. ET on March 23, 2020.

Biggest Changes in Rank from the Previous Report

• Hawaii moved from rank 45 to rank 11, up 34 positions. One reason is that the state has increased its number of tests administered per 100,000 residents by 400 times, from 0.49 to 211.74.
• Colorado moved from rank 35 to rank 9, up 26 positions. This is due in part to the fact that the state has increased prevention measures and announced statewide closures of schools, bars and restaurants.
• Maine moved from rank 33 to rank 8, up 25 positions. Maine has improved its aggressiveness against coronavirus by banning gatherings of 10 participants or more as well as closing restaurants and bars, among other measures.

To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/most-aggressive-states-against-coronavirus/72307/

A new KHN article describes how government decisions in the early days of the nation’s coronavirus outbreak have already impacted the magnitude of the pandemic and may affect the country for months to come. The article explains, for the first time, how the CDC initially sent the same number of test kits to public health labs in all 50 states, even though the outbreaks were highly localized at that point — meaning that the tests didn’t go to where they were most needed.

KHN’s reporting is part of KFF’s continuing efforts on the coronavirus outbreak. The story also ran in The Daily Beast and, as always, KHN content is available to republish free of charge.

About The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Kaiser Health News:

Filling the need for trusted information on national health issues, KFF (the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation) is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.  KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF and is the nation’s leading and largest health and health policy newsroom, producing stories that run on khn.org and are published by hundreds of news organizations across the country.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of State (DOS) are reminding healthcare providers of guidance released and updated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the DOH on numerous aspects related to the COVID-19 response. This guidance is for all healthcare providers including those practicing in outpatient and urgent care settings and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC). Coordination and collaboration with all level of healthcare providers is essential for a measured response to COVID-19. As a frontline practitioner, we depend on your expertise and encourage you to remain up to date as information continues to change and evolve. The following are critically important guidance documents for your review:

Guidance for Preventing Exposure and Transmission

• Interim Guidance for Healthcare Facilities: Preparing for Community Transmission of COVID-19 in the United States available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/healthcare-facilities/guidance-hcf.html
• Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Healthcare Settings available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/infection-control/control-recommendations.html

Guidance on reporting, testing and specimen collection

• PA Department of Health Interim COVID 19 Specimen Collection and Testing Guidance available at: www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/HAN/2020-PAHAN-487-03-14-ALT%20-%20Interim%20C.pdf
• PA Department of Health specimen collection and shipping guidance available at: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/HAN/COVID%2019%20Specimen%20Collection%20Guidance.pdf
• PA Department of Health testing fact sheet available at: https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Diseases%20and%20Conditions/COVID19%20Testing%20Factsheet.pdf
• Interim Guidelines for Collecting, Handling, and Testing Clinical Specimens from Persons for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/lab/guidelines-clinical-specimens.html

We encourage you to check the CDC and the Pennsylvania Department of Health websites regularly for updates. To sign up to receive Health Advisories from the Pennsylvania Department of Health please register using https://han.pa.gov.

Thank you for your continued participation and assistance in this response. As a healthcare provider you are uniquely positioned to support a healthy Pennsylvania for all and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Sincerely,

Rachel L Levine, MD                           Kathy Boockvar
Secretary of Health                              Secretary of the Commonwealth