News Archive

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded nearly $55 million to 29 HRSA-funded health centers to increase health care access and quality for underserved populations through virtual care such as telehealth, remote patient monitoring, digital patient tools, and health information technology platforms. This funding builds on over $7.3 billion in American Rescue Plan funding invested in community health centers over the past year to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

For a list of award recipients, visit https://bphc.hrsa.gov/program-opportunities/optimizing-virtual-care/fy22-awards.

Former school superintendent brought a decade of innovation to statewide network

Renewal of De​​termination That A Public Health Em​ergency Exists

This Article gives a summary of the policies in the CY 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). Section 1848(b)(1) of the Social Security Act (the Act) requires the Secretary to establish by regulation a fee schedule of payment amounts for physicians’ services for the subsequent year. CMS issued a final rule (CMS-1751-F) that updates payment policies and Medicare payment rates for physicians and NPP services that we pay for using the MPFS.

On November 5, 2021, the United States House of Representatives voted 228-206 to pass the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” (“Infrastructure Bill”).  This bill establishes the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, as well gives $14 Billion to institute the Emergency Broadband Benefit as a permanent program.  For further information, see the high-level summary from wiley.law.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services dropped its physician fee schedule for next year. It would bolster coverage of telehealth visits for behavioral health and vaccine payments, but would also reduce the conversion factor used to calculate fee-for-service payments. For full report see 

 https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2021-23972/medicare-program-cy-2022-payment-policies-under-the-physician-fee-schedule-and-other-changes-to-part