Washington, D.C. – On February 12, 2020, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, held a hearing entitled, “There’s No Place Like Home: Home Health Care in Rural America.” During the hearing, Senator Casey highlighted his bill, the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Infrastructure Improvement Act, which would invest in community supports for older adults and people with disabilities in rural areas through increased Medicaid funding for states.

“In Pennsylvania, there are more than 13,000 older adults and people with disabilities waiting for home care and support services. My bill, the Home and Community-Based Services Infrastructure Improvement Act, aims to change that–to make home-based care and services a reality for all who need it. An investment in home health care is an investment in the future of rural America. It is an investment in access to care, an investment in the direct support workforce and an investment in the economy,” said Senator Casey.

Senator Casey invited Francis Adams, a home care worker from Washington, PA, to testify about the barriers to improving home care jobs. “We can’t truly improve the long-term care that seniors and people with disabilities rely on unless we tackle the major obstacles that are holding working people back, including low wages, lack of benefits and basic worker protections and inadequate training,” said Mr. Adams. “It isn’t that we don’t have enough people to do this work that creates a workforce shortage, it is that our country, as a whole, undervalues this work and so nobody wants to fill the positions. We have to fix this. We have to invest in long-term care for all and we have to finally respect the work home care workers do.”

 Read more about the HCBS Infrastructure Improvement Act here.

With health care costs rising and U.S. life expectancy declining for three consecutive years, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020’s Healthiest & Unhealthiest Cities in America as well as accompanying videos.

To identify the places where health is a priority, WalletHub compared more than 170 of the largest U.S. cities across 43 key metrics. The data set ranges from cost of medical visit to fruit and vegetable consumption to fitness clubs per capita.

Key Stats

• Overland Park, Kansas, has the lowest share of physically unhealthy adults, 7.60 percent, which is 2.5 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 19.20 percent.
• Laredo, Texas, has the lowest cost per doctor’s visit, $58.33, which is 3.3 times less expensive than in Boston, the city with the highest at $191.62.
• Portland, Maine, has the lowest share of adults eating fruit less than once daily, 28.20 percent, which is 1.8 times lower than in Gulfport, Mississippi, the city with the highest at 51.80 percent.
• Amarillo, Texas, has the lowest average monthly cost for a fitness-club membership, $10.17, which is 8.1 times less expensive than in San Francisco, the city with the highest at $82.83.

To view the full report and your city’s rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/healthiest-cities/31072/

The Pennsylvania Department of Health has released it’s 2020-2023 Strategic Plan.  A tremendous effort went into creating this strategic plan, from community partners and employee surveys to workshops, interviews, and data analysis. This plan is the Department’s roadmap for pursuing the greatest public health challenges faced by Pennsylvanians and illustrates their commitment to health equity, collaboration, continuous quality improvement and evidence-based decision making. The Department will build upon the great work already being done to promote healthy behaviors, prevent injury and disease, and to assure the safe delivery of quality health care for all people in Pennsylvania.

This plan sets the course to achieve five overarching strategies that we will work toward accomplishing over the next three years:

1. Maintain and enhance emergency services and public health preparedness
2. Continually develop our talents to significantly advance public health in PA
3. Promote public health with awareness, prevention, and improvement of outcomes where the need is greatest
4. Use data, measures, and technology to enable public health performance
5. Improve staff, customer and partner experience with consistent, efficient and effective services and work processes

On February 13, 2020, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma announced a Request for Information (RFI) to seek public comments regarding rural maternal and infant health care.

Through CMS’ Office of Minority Health, the agency is seeking information related to opportunities to improve access, quality, and outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy, and to develop and refine programs and policies that ensure all rural women have access to high quality maternal health care that results in optimal health.

To review the RFI, please visit go.cms.gov/ruralhealth.

Responses to this RFI will be used to inform future discussions among stakeholders and future work by CMS toward the development and refinement of programs and policies that ensure rural women have access to high quality maternal health care that results in optimal health outcomes.

CMS encourages all stakeholders to review the RFI at go.cms.gov/ruralhealth and submit comments to RuralMaternalRFI@cms.hhs.gov. Comments will be collected starting Wednesday February 12 through Sunday, April 12 at 11:59pm ET.

For more information and updates about this RFI, please visit the CMS Rural Health website at go.cms.gov/ruralhealth or email questions to RuralMaternalRFI@cms.hhs.gov.  

Beginning January 1, 2020, Medicare will pay opioid treatment programs (OTPs) a bundled payment for providing treatment to Medicare beneficiaries and beneficiaries who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid.  This Guidance to State Medicaid Agencies clarifies that OTPs must enroll with Medicare in order for Medicare to become the primary payer for services provided to dually-eligible beneficiaries and offers interim reimbursement solutions while providers go through the Medicare enrollment process.  There are few OTPs in rural areas, yet rural health providers are hopeful that increased access to medication-assisted therapy, such as that provided in OTPs, can have a positive impact on rural opioid use. Read more here.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is accepting nominations for this group that advises HRSA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on objectives, strategies, policies, and priorities. The announcement is for continuous recruitment and applications will be accepted at any time; however, interested candidates are encouraged to submit their nomination packages as soon as possible for consideration in the next round of nominations. Read more here.

The World Health Organization announced 2020 as the start of a major global effort to highlight the shortage of these health workers and celebrate their work. Read more here.

A unique collection of data and tools, the Rural Opportunity Map uses data sets on broadband infrastructure, education attainment, young companies, and other local assets.  A map section for local leaders is designed to help them discover and learn from peer communities.  Developing sections help decode the many definitions of rural across federal entities, help investors find options in rural Opportunity Zones, and track trends in rural health care. Read more here.

Provider shortages and limited access to health services are not new concerns for rural health systems, but access to emergency medical services (EMS) has also reached a critical juncture. Read more here.

Rural health care settings present unique challenges to older adults seeking care. A focus on social determinants of health beginning with what matters to older adults can be game-changing in providing age-friendly care. Read more here.