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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2020
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Harrisburg, PA – As a companion to the Trauma-Informed PA plan released last week by Governor Tom Wolf’s Office to guide the commonwealth and service providers statewide on what it means to be trauma-informed and healing-centered in PA, the Office of Advocacy and Reform (OAR) and the PA Attorney General’s Office have worked with over a dozen community-based ACEs and trauma initiatives to launch the “PA Trauma-Informed Network” on the ACEs Connection Platform.
“There was a clear emphasis on building grass roots support and empowering people at the local level among the PA Trauma-Informed Think Tank members that mirrored my experiences with successful anti-poverty work over the years,” said Dan Jurman, the Executive Director of OAR. “When we saw what the Attorney General’s office had been working on, it was a no brainer to throw our support behind the great work.”
The Network is one of the recommendations in the Trauma-Informed PA plan to connect ACEs and trauma-informed coalitions and movements in counties and communities across Pennsylvania, as well as organizations and individuals interested in building them.
The Network will help connect all of Pennsylvania’s existing and future trauma-informed coalitions by sharing best-practices and lessons learned, and the resources to help people heal from and prevent trauma. The work on this initiative began in 2017 with the Attorney General’s Office under the leadership of Attorney General Josh Shapiro with the assistance of Robert Reed, Executive Deputy Attorney General in charge of Special Initiatives, and was reinforced by the Trauma-Informed PA Think Tank and OAR this summer.
“This network will serve as an invaluable tool to bolster existing trauma-informed coalitions and create new ones with a more well-rounded representation of all parties crucial to success including education, health, human services, law enforcement and criminal justice, among others,” said Reed.
Current counties/localities whose ACEs and trauma initiatives have linked to the PA Trauma-Informed Network page include:
Individuals or organizations interested in learning more or building their own initiative to connect to the network should go to https://www.acesconnection.com/g/pennsylvania-trauma-informed-network
MEDIA CONTACT: Lyndsay Kensinger, ra-gvgovpress@pa.gov
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On July 31, it was announced by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that they will be extending the application deadline for the Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) until August 28, 2020. This extension is included as a part of an ongoing effort to provide financial relief to healthcare providers impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
In addition, HHS also plans to allow certain Medicare providers who experienced challenges in the Phase 1 Medicare General Distribution application period a second opportunity to receive funding. It is expected that HHS will reopen the Medicare distribution portal beginning the week of August 10, 2020. It is HHS’ intent to ensure eligible healthcare providers receive the balance of their additional funding to equal approximately 2 percent of gross receipts from patient care regardless of payer mix through the Provider Relief Fund.
Both groups will have until the August 28, 2020 deadline to apply. For updated information and data, visit the Provider Relief Fund web page.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) has announced a call, COVID-19 & Telehealth Implementation: Stories From the Field, for Tuesday, August 4, 2020 from 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm. During this call, presenters will discuss the CDC’s telehealth guidance and telehealth benefits and challenges during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. They will also share their experiences implementing telehealth across diverse healthcare settings and address considerations for its future use. The registration link and call information is located on the COCA call web page.
From ACCSES:
The FAQs for the Medicaid and CHIP Provider Relief Fund have been updated to be more inclusive for disability providers. This is the message we received last evening:
“HRSA has clarified one of the FAQs to specifically indicate that disability service providers are eligible:
Are healthcare providers that only bill Medicaid or CHIP through a waiver eligible for the Medicaid, CHIP, and Dental Providers Distribution? (Modified 7/30/2020)
Yes. Healthcare providers that bill for services in Medicaid or CHIP that are covered under either a waiver or state plan, including disability service providers and other providers of Medicaid-funded home and community-based services (HCBS) (e.g., day habilitation, HCBS waiver program services), are eligible for the Medicaid, CHIP, and Dental Providers Distribution if they otherwise meet the other eligibility criteria.”
Here is the link to the FAQs. The Medicaid and CHIP Provider Relief Fund portal closes on Monday, August 3, but if you start your application and are waiting for your Tax Identification Number (TIN) to be approved, you will have time to complete the application after August 3.
Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that reimbursement is available to physicians and health care providers to use toward counseling patients, at the time of COVID-19 testing, about the importance of self-isolation after they are tested and prior to the onset of symptoms. This is extremely important as studies have shown that the transmission of COVID-19 occurs from both symptomatic, pre-symptomatic, and asymptomatic individuals emphasizing the importance of education on self-isolation as the spread of the virus can be reduced significantly by having patients isolated earlier, while waiting for test results or the onset of symptoms.
Provider counseling to patients, at the time of their COVID-19 testing, will include the discussion of immediate need for isolation, even before results are available, the importance to inform their immediate household that they too should be tested for COVID-19, and the review of signs and symptoms and services available to them to aid in isolating at home. Additionally, they will be counseled that if they test positive, to wear a mask at all times and they will be contacted by public health authorities and asked to provide information for contact tracing and to tell their immediate household and recent contacts in case it is appropriate for these individuals to be tested for the virus and to self-isolate as well.
CMS will use existing evaluation and management (E/M) payment codes to reimburse providers who are eligible to bill CMS for counseling services no matter where a test is administered, including doctor’s offices, urgent care clinics, hospitals, and community drive-thru or pharmacy testing sites.
Additional information and resource links are included in the counseling checklist.
House Resolution 268 of 2019 called upon the Joint State Government Commission to conduct, in consultation with an advisory committee, a study of “the impact of this Commonwealth’s current behavioral health needs and behavioral health care system capacity on hospital emergency rooms and patient health.” The advisory committee was composed of representatives of state, county, and local agencies, mental health and substance use disorder providers, consumers of mental health and substance use disorder services, and emergency medical service providers. Recommendations fall into three categories, and are more fully explained in the Summary of Recommendations section of the report. The full Joint State Government Commissions report can be found here. If you have questions or feedback, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.