NOSORH News
Graduate Medical Education: Section 131
CMS Section 131 provides for a “reset” of residency slots to rural and urban hospitals, in some instances. Our partners at Rural GME (the Rural Residency/Teaching Health Center Planning and Development TA Centers) have analyzed, by state, which hospitals are possibly...
The Broadband Equity, Access & Deployment Program (BEAD) and Telehealth
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (“the Act”) appropriated significant funds for broadband expansion. Included in these appropriations is $42.45 billion, to be administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as what is...
Rural Health Policy Update – May 2022
The White House recently unveiled their Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 budget request to Congress. Included in the budget request are: $13 million for the State Offices of Rural Health (SORH) program. This request represents a $500,000 increase over the enacted FY ’22 level...
Provider Relief Fund Reporting and Funding Clawbacks
The Federal Provider Relief Fund (PRF), authorized under the CARES Act, awarded billions of dollars of support to health care providers designed to offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds were not to be repaid, but awards were conditioned on reporting...
Termination of the Federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: Likely Impact on Rural Health
The Administration has extended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) for 90 days until July 16, 2022. The PHE was due to terminate on April 16 without that extension: https://www.rollcall.com/2022/04/13/administration-extends-public-health-emergency-for-90-days/...
Index for Identifying Communities with Serious Disadvantage
The White House has announced a new framework for identifying communities with serious disadvantages. This framework will be used to prioritize certain Federal investments. See an overview of the new effort here:...
End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency – Impact on Medicaid Enrollments
The Federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) is likely to end in the next few months. This event will have a significant impact on state Medicaid programs. A provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides continuous enrollment for Medicaid and...
NTIA and a ‘Low-Cost Option’ for Broadband Services
An excellent article has been posted related to the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) upcoming Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. BEAD will make $42 billion available to states to address the...
Supreme Court Decisions on Federal COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates
The Supreme Court has ruled on two separate Federal COVID-19 vaccination mandates - the OSHA mandate for large employers and the separate CMS mandate for covered healthcare providers. The OSHA ruling was struck down and the CMS ruling was upheld. A good summary of the...
Compliance with Price Transparency Mandates
A recent survey of 1,000 hospitals indicated widespread non-compliance with price transparency requirements. Only 14% of hospitals surveyed were fully compliant. Failure to be in full compliance can subject a facility to sanctions. See a summary of findings here:...