As part of HRSA’s ongoing effort to assess the extent to which their rural health grant programs are meeting the needs of rural communities, the agency has published a Request for Information seeking public comment.

Specifically, HRSA is looking looking for comments on the eligibility criteria governing the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s (FORHP) community-based grant programs. Does the eligibility criteria affect the rural communities’ ability to leverage FORHP grant funding? If so, how?

Your feedback may be used (without attribution) by HRSA and HHS for program planning and decision making in the future.

Send comments via email with the subject line, “Rural Health Grants Eligibility RFI.” Submissions are due no later than 11:59 p.m. EDT on November 2, 2019.

With the start of a new school year upon us, no fewer than 15 major metropolitan areas in the U.S. have “hotspots” of unvaccinated children that make them vulnerable to preventable diseases similar to the recent measles outbreak in New York City, experts warned in a recent webcast. The trend has major implications for health centers, health departments, hospitals and schools alike.

Learn more about the health effects of vaccine opposition

At a time when increasing numbers of children are showing up in emergency rooms with mental health issues, less than half of the nation’s hospitals have written protocols in place for care coordination and management of kids in crisis – and that number falls to about a third in rural areas, two senior HRSA leaders reported in a recent webcast.

Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among young people, age 10 to 19 years old. And absent immediate intervention, the risk of a suicide attempt or death by self-harm is highest within 30 days of discharge from an emergency department.

Those findings are the impetus behind a new HRSA toolkit to help emergency room staff manage young people in psychiatric distress, said Associate Administrators Dr. Michael Warren and Tom Morris.

Learn more about the new toolkit.

The U.S. Census Bureau recently launched a new version of 2020census.gov. The new website adds features, resources, and materials to help inform the public about the 2020 Census. The site includes dozens of new Statistics in Schools materials, a new webpage to share facts about the 2020 Census, information on applying for jobs, and frequently asked questions (FAQs). It is also available in Spanish.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ Human Services Committee met on September 18, 2019 to consider legislation to place regulations on how suboxone is prescribed to patients. The provider community, including PACHC, was heavily engaged with the legislature to express concerns about Senate Bill 675 ahead of the committee meeting. Chair Gene DiGirolamo (R-Bucks) decided to withhold the bill in the committee after hearing concerns from providers and members of the committee. Rep. DiGirolamo and staff will convene stakeholder conversations to revisit the bill to address provider concerns with the current language while also meeting the legislation’s goal of eliminating “cash clinics” – provider operations that provide suboxone prescriptions for cash payment without counseling.

On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives’ Health Committee voted unanimously to pass Rep. Clint Owlett’s (R-Tioga) House Bill 533, which streamlines the current credentialing process for provider applications to managed care organizations (MCOs) and commercial insurance plans. Rep. Owlett passionately spoke on behalf of the provider community in the committee and has been adamant that the final bill will be fair to both providers and insurers to ensure that there is a timely process to complete applications as well as have an established communications loop.