The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) this week announced the awarding of nearly $105 million in grant funding, provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to 54 states and territories in advance of the transition of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from the…
Read More »The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) this week announced the availability of nearly $90 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to support new data-driven efforts for HRSA Health Center Program-supported health centers and look-alikes to identify and reduce health disparities. HRSA’s modernized data collection and reporting initiative, Uniform Data System Patient-Level…
Read More »The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this week issued a proposed rule for inpatient and long-term hospitals, seeking to include three health-equity focused measures in hospital quality programs, solicit stakeholder input related to documenting social determinants of health in inpatient claims data, and establish a “Birthing-Friendly” hospital designation. CMS’ proposed health-equity measures…
Read More »Today, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to update Medicare enrollment and eligibility rules by providing Medicare coverage the month immediately after enrollment. The move is anticipated to reduce the uninsured period and expand access through Medicare special enrollment periods (SEPs). It would also allow eligible beneficiaries to…
Read More »President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. this week sent his Administration’s inaugural National Drug Control Strategy to Congress, delineating his Administration’s approach to address the country’s overdose epidemic. According to the Biden Administration, the Strategy focuses on primary two drivers of the epidemic – untreated addiction and drug trafficking – and instructs federal agencies to prioritize…
Read More »On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Secretary Xavier Becerra renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration, effective April 16, 2022. The first U.S. public health emergency declaration for COVID-19 was issued in January 2020 as the global pandemic response began and has been renewed every 90 days in adherence…
Read More »The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) on Wednesday announced, at the recommendation of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that it will extend its Security Directives and Emergency Amendment requiring the use of face masks on public transportation and transportation hubs for 15 days through May 3, 2022. The move comes as…
Read More »On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the first COVID-19 diagnostic test that detects chemical compounds in breath samples associated with a SARS-CoV-2 infection. The test can be performed in environments where the patient specimen is both collected and analyzed, such as doctor offices, hospitals, and…
Read More »According to data released this week from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the U.S. decreased during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, but most resurged by the end of that year. Ultimately, reported cases of gonorrhea, syphilis, and congenital syphilis…
Read More »On Thursday, the Biden-Harris Administration released Equity Action Plans from more than 90 federal agencies, including all Cabinet-level agencies, that identify more than 300 concrete strategies and commitments to address systemic barriers in policies and programs that disproportionately impact underserved communities. The equity plans are pursuant to Executive Order 13985 issued by President Joseph R….
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