Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, March 30
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund The Provider Relief Fund last week distributed more than $413 million to more than 3600 providers across the country, the fourth round of Phase 4 payments since those payments began last November. This is in addition to nearly $7.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments over the past four months. HHS’s Health Resources [...]
Medicaid as a Tool for Addressing Racial Health Inequities
Medicaid can be an important tool for addressing racial health inequities, the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests in a new issue brief. Among the measures involving Medicaid that might be undertaken to address racial health inequities and addressing social determinants of health, the brief suggests (in words taken directly from the issue brief): One significant action that would help close coverage disparities for people of color is adoption of the ACA Medicaid expansion in the 12 non-expansion states. Other expansions of Medicaid eligibility could also address racial disparities in coverage and [...]
Hospitals, Insurers, City Government Launch Health Equity Effort
The pursuit of health equity is the subject of a new collaboration between health systems, health insurers, and a big city government. The new effort, dubbed “Accelerate Health Equity,” will seek to bring “…together organizations across the region to produce tangible improvement in health inequities, and ultimately achieve measurable, positive changes in health outcomes in Philadelphia.” Among the participants in the endeavor are AmeriHealth Caritas, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia, Drexel University, Independence Blue Cross, Jefferson Health, Main Line Health, Penn Medicine, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, [...]
Telehealth Boomed During Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked tremendous growth in the use of telehealth services among Medicare beneficiaries, according to the Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General. During the first year of the public health emergency, with many previous limits on the use of telehealth temporarily waived, more than 28 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth beneficiaries used 88 times more telehealth services during the first year of the pandemic than in the previous year beneficiaries used telehealth to receive 12 percent of their services beneficiaries most commonly used telehealth for [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, March 22
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund As of March 22 at 11:59 p.m. (eastern) the HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administration) COVID-19 Uninsured Program will stop accepting claims for testing and treatment due to lack of funds and on April 5 at 11:59 p.m. (eastern) the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program and COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund will stop accepting vaccination claims due [...]