OCR Provides 90-Day Transition Period for HIPAA Telehealth Compliance
HHS
OMB Releases Unified Regulatory Agenda & Plan
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released the Unified Regulatory Agenda and Regulatory Plan, which outlines regulatory actions federal agencies are considering in the coming months. Regulations can be searched by specific agency, such as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
SAMHSA Releases Revised CCBHC Program Standards
HHS Releases New Report on Long COVID
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a new report that highlights patients’ experience of Long COVID to better understand its complexities and drive creative responses by government leaders, clinicians, patient advocates, and others. The Health+ Long COVID Report builds on President Biden’s Memorandum on Addressing the Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 and the two previously issued HHS Long COVID reports. The report was commissioned by HHS and produced by Coforma, an independent third-party design and research agency. It provides recommendations on how to deliver high-quality care and relevant and intentional resources and supports to individuals and families impacted by Long COVID.
Last week, the Administration sent a $750 million dollar supplemental funding request to Congress to support Long COVID research and treatment. This funding request would support HHS and their continued work on Long COVID, providers who serve patients with Long COVID and its associated conditions, and community-based organizations that assist with case management and provide other essential services and supports.
The report offers a variety of short-term and longer-term recommendations that come directly from the patient experience.
A Framework for Community Engagement — A Pathway to Competitive Integrated Employment
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services is pleased to release “A Framework for Community Engagement – A Pathway to Competitive Integrated Employment.” Developed in partnership with ODEP and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living as well as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, this paper, targeted at both policymakers and service providers, explains what community engagement means along with its benefits. In addition, it contains information about the wide variety of services that, when provided together, expand opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities to achieve competitive integrated employment.
HHS Roundtable Hosted at RCPA Member Children’s Crisis Treatment Center
RCPA member Children’s Crisis Treatment Center (CCTC) hosted the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra for a roundtable discussion on children’s mental health and the impact of community violence on the afternoon of Friday, July 15, 2022. The roundtable was moderated by Dr. Ala Stanford, who is the Regional Director for HSS, responsible for all of Pennsylvania, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Dr. Stanford is a practicing physician and the founder of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, which focuses on testing and vaccinating Philadelphia residents against COVID-19.
Xavier Becerra is the 25th Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the first Latino to hold the office in the history of the United States. Secretary Becerra was in Philadelphia to promote the launch of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), which is a network of more than 200 state and local call centers.
“CCTC was proud to be chosen as the organization the Secretary visited. It was wonderful to share with him the work that is being done in Philadelphia around children’s mental health services and highlight the impactful work CCTC provides in our centers, community, and schools,” said Antonio Valdés, Chief Executive Officer at CCTC.
Federal PHE Extended to October 13, 2022
The Biden administration on Friday, July 15, 2022, extended the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) for another three months. US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra officially renewed the declaration, extending it through October 13, 2022. The extensions include the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) standards governing the delivery of services via telehealth.
If you have additional questions, please contact your RCPA Policy Director.
HHS to Establish Office of Environmental Justice, With Spotlight on Environmental Inequities in Health
HHS Distributing an Additional $413 Million in Provider Relief Fund Payments
Message from the Provider Relief Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA):
HRSA is making more than $413 million in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more than 3,600 providers across the country this week.
Providers received an email notification Monday, March 21 if their application was among those processed in this latest batch. HRSA is working to review all remaining applications as quickly as possible.
With this announcement, a total of nearly $12 billion in PRF Phase 4 payments has now been distributed to more than 82,000 providers in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and five territories. This is in addition to HRSA’s distribution of American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments, totaling nearly $7.5 billion in funding to more than 44,000 providers since November 2021.
Learn More
- HHS updated the state-by-state table detailing all Phase 4 payments made to date.
- As individual providers agree to the terms and conditions of Phase 4 payments, it will be reflected on the public dataset.
OIG Clears the Way for Use of Financial Incentives in Treating SUD Within the Medicaid Population
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a favorable advisory opinion regarding contingency management (CM), an evidence-based approach for treating substance use disorders (SUD) that uses financial incentives to reward healthy behavior, such as abstinence and treatment retention, according to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.
CM has been shown to be an effective approach for those with SUD in more than 100 randomized controlled trials over 50 years. Evidence shows it can double abstinence rates across opioids, stimulants, alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine, compared to usual care alone. It is the most effective and most evidence-based treatment for stimulant use disorders. In 2021, the Biden Administration declared advancing CM among its drug policy priorities.
The advisory opinion clears the way for CM for routine use in publicly funded substance use treatment programs and healthcare facilities under federal reimbursement, including Medicaid.
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