Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) was recently recognized as the NOSORH 2018 Legislator of the Year for his sponsorship of the SORH reauthorization bill. Cynthia Snyder, Director of the Kansas Office of Primary Care and Rural Health, and Teryl Eisinger, NOSORH Executive Director, presented his award at the NRHA Policy Institute last month. Senator Roberts met with NOSORH representatives and shared his experiences and vision for rural health. “Senator Roberts has been a champion for rural health throughout his career,” said Snyder. “He has made tremendous strides to improve the quality of rural health care and access to it. I’m pleased that NOSORH has recognized his numerous achievements in this area.”
Other State Offices of Rural Health were also well represented at the Policy Institute. A NOSORH members meeting at the Institute included updates from FORHP with information on upcoming new programs, discussion of the NOSORH request for additional appropriation and a toast to Andrew Coats and the Policy Committee for their efforts in achieving SORH reauthorization.
The following update was provided by Hall Render, NOSORH Policy Liaison:
Federal Budget Season Heats Up
With the 35-day shutdown throughout January, funding for the fiscal year 2020 budget and appropriations cycle has been pushed back a month. The President’s budget request, which is normally released in early February, should be released by mid-March. The late release date provides Congress with a tightened window to pass FY 2020 spending bills by the start of the new fiscal year, October 1, 2019. It has been reported that President Trump will propose a five percent cut to non-defense discretionary spending in his upcoming budget proposal to Congress. “With House Democrats supporting spending increases to non-defense spending, the President’s proposal won’t survive Congress,” said Andrew Coats, NOSORH’s Legislative Liaison.
HRSA Announces Upcoming Rural Grant Funding Opportunity
On February 4, the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy announced plans to award approximately 75 grants of up to $1 million. The grants would seek to expand opioid and other substance use disorder services in high-risk rural communities. The grant award will cover a three-year period and require awardees to implement a set of core substance and opioid use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery activities that align with HHS’s Five Point Strategy to Combat the opioid crisis. All domestic public and private entities, nonprofit and for-profit, will be eligible to apply. The services must be provided in a HRSA designated rural area. HRSA intends to release a notice of funding opportunity in the coming weeks.
CMS Unveils Overhaul of Medicare Payment for Emergency Treatment
On February 14, CMS launched a voluntary payment experiment, the Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport (“ET3”) model, allowing first responders more flexibility to treat patients on the scene, through telehealth or at an urgent care clinic. CMS will pay participating ambulance teams to transport patients to hospital emergency departments, transport patients to other settings like a primary care physician’s office, use telehealth or provide care on the scene under supervision of a qualified practitioner. Currently, Medicare reimburses ambulance providers if they transport patients to the hospital, skilled nursing facility or dialysis center. The voluntary demonstration will likely begin in 2020 and run for five years. CMS will phase in the model across the country and will phase it to 30 percent of emergency room visits.
ACE Kids Act Reintroduced in the Senate
On February 5, Senate Finance Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reintroduced a bipartisan bill intended to provide states with the option of providing coordinated care for children with complex medical conditions through Medicaid.
The Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act is intended to make it possible for home health providers to coordinate care, lower costs and improve quality outcomes for children with complex medical conditions on Medicaid who require specialized care. The bill (S. 317) was referred to the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicaid.