House Votes To Repeal “Cadillac Tax”

The House of Representatives on the evening of July 18 voted 419-6 to pass legislation (H.R. 748) that would repeal the 40% excise tax on high-value employer-sponsored health plans set to begin in 2022. The tax was scheduled to take effect in 2018 under the Affordable Care Act, but Congress has delayed it several times. According to the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation, repealing the so-called “Cadillac” tax would reduce federal revenues by an estimated $197 billion. 

The legislation can be obtained at https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/748.

What Can The Private Sector Do In Health Care?

The next health care innovations may not come from large insurers or health plans, but rather from big retail chains like Walmart or even financial services firms. A posting on July 18, 2019 from the Commonwealth Fund examines private-sector efforts to improve quality and reduce costs in health care. 

The post can be obtained at

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2019/private-sector-takes-health-care.

House Committee Passes Reauthorization of Health Professions Workforce Programs

Earlier today the House Committee on Energy & Commerce passed H.R. 2781, the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness (EMPOWER) for Health Act of 2019 by voice vote. The bill, which reauthorizes the Title VII HRSA health professions workforce programs, also included language from the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act that was adopted as an amendment at last week’s markup in the Committee’s Health Subcommittee. That language authorizes funding for a new grant program to increase educational opportunities in the professions of physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology. ASAHP applauds the work of the Committee in passing this legislation, particularly Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, Ranking Member Greg Walden, Reps. Janice Shakowsky and Michael Burgess for their work on Title VII reauthorization, and Reps. Bobby Rush and Cathy McMorris Rodgers for their work on the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act. 

More information may be accessed here.

Congressional Task Force On Rural And Underserved Communities Launched

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee today announced the creation of the “Rural and Underserved Communities Health Task Force.” A bipartisan group of four co-chairpersons will lead the new effort, which will convene members and experts to discuss the challenges of delivering health care in rural and underserved areas, and explore holistic bipartisan policy options that could improve outcomes and care in these communities. The group plans to hold its first meeting on July 25.  

More information about the task force can be obtained at https://waysandmeans.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ways-and-means-committee-launches-rural-and-underserved-communities.

ASAHP Joins Joint Letter on the DREAM Act

ASAHP joined dozens of organizations in a letter to Senate leaders which urges passage of the Dream Act of 2019. The legislation would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented young people and those approved for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and would ensure that this segment of the health care workforce are able to continue their employment, education, training, and research in the health professions.

The letter may be accessed here.

Dr. Peggy Valentine Named Interim Chancellor at Fayetteville State University

On Friday it was announced that Dr. Peggy Valentine will serve as Interim Chancellor at Fayetteville State University. Dr. Valentine is the Dean at Winston-Salem State University’s School of Health Sciences. She has served on the ASAHP Board of Directors as well as its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity, Committee. Dr. Valentine was named an ASAHP Fellow in 2003.

An article may be accessed here.

Medicare Insolvency Projections

Since Medicare’s creation in 1966, the Part A Hospital Insurance Trust Fund always has faced a projected shortfall. The insolvency date has been postponed a number of times, primarily due to legislative changes that have had the effect of restraining growth in program spending. A new report from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides historical accounts of various projections and actions that were taken to deal with them. 

The report can be obtained at https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20946.pdf.

CMS Proposes Calendar Year 2020 Home Health Update

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released a home health prospective payment system proposed rule for calendar year 2020, which would increase payments by a net 1.3% ($250 million). The agency also proposes to allow therapist assistants, rather than only therapists, to perform maintenance therapy enabling them to practice at the top of their state licensure, give flexibility to home health providers, and improve beneficiary access to these services.

The proposed rule can be obtained at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2019-14913.pdf.

Title VII Reauthorization Bill and Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act Pass Subcommittee

Today the House Energy and Commerce’s Health Subcommittee passed the EMPOWER for Health Act, H.R. 2781, which reauthorizes Title VII HRSA health professions workforce programs. The Subcommittee also passed the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2019 as an amendment to the EMPOWER bill. The bill is expected to be considered in full committee next week.

More information may be accessed here, as well as in this week’s previous newswire posts.

The Gathering Storm Of Student Loans

A podcast from the Urban Institute addresses the following kinds of questions:  Why is overall debt increasing? When is taking on student loan debt a good idea? And what are some emerging proposals to fix our growing debt balance? 

The podcast can be listened to at https://www.urban.org/criticalvalue#gatheringstormstudentloans.

House Subcommittee Markup On Title VII Bill Tomorrow

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health will meet tomorrow at 10am ET to markup ten health related bills, including H.R. 2781, the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness (EMPOWER) for Health Act of 2019. The EMPOWER for Health Act of 2019, introduced by Reps. Schakowsky (D-IL) and Burgess (R-TX), would provide a five-year reauthorization for the Public Health Service Act Title VII health care workforce development grant programs and updates language authorizing the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) and the Geriatric Academic Career Awards (GACA) program. 

The livestream and legislation may be accessed here. 
The memorandum from Chairman Pallone may be found here. 
The Committee Press Release may be found here.

Bipartisan Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act Introduced in Congress

On Tuesday, Reps. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced H.R. 3637, the Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act. The bill, which is endorsed by ASAHP and modeled after the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development program, would authorize funding to increase educational opportunities in the professions of physical therapy, occupational therapy, audiology, and speech-language pathology. ASAHP has been working with the bipartisan sponsors of this legislation and industry associations. ASAHP’s support for the bill is noted in the Members press release following the introduction of this bill. Rep. Rush is expected to offer this legislative language as an amendment during tomorrow’s House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health markup of H.R. 2781, the Educating Medical Professionals and Optimizing Workforce Efficiency and Readiness (EMPOWER) for Health Act of 2019.

The Allied Health Workforce Diversity Act of 2019 may be accessed here, when available. 
Rep. Rush’s press release may be accessed here. 

Proposed Telehealth Program For Low-Income Americans

The Federal Communications Commission on July 10, 2019 is expected to vote on a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish a new $100 million “Connected Care Pilot Program” to support telehealth for low-income Americans, including veterans and those living in rural areas.  

The notice can be obtained at https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-358067A1.pdf.

Impact Of Electronic Health Record In-Basket Messages

An article in the journal Health Affairs discusses the relationship between physicians’ well-being and the in-basket messages physicians receive, specifically, their volume and sources, in the context of  reported burnout symptoms and intentions to reduce clinical work time in the upcoming year. 

The article can be obtained at https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/pdf/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05509.

A Rationale For Medicare Oral Health Coverage

The organization FamiliesUSA has produced fact sheets to highlight how seniors and individuals with disabilities in each state would be better able to achieve oral health, overall health, and reduced health care costs and the cost benefits of including oral health coverage in Medicare. Adding oral health coverage to Medicare would help approximately 60 million of the aged and individuals with disabilities in the U.S. to obtain oral health care. 

Fact sheets can be obtained at https://familiesusa.org/product/medicare-oral-health-coverage-your-state-would-improve-health-reduce-health-care-costs.

ASAHP Joins Joint Letter to the Department of Education on PSLF Waiver

ASAHP joined numerous other organizations with the Coalition to Preserve PSLF in a letter urging Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to use her waiver authority to fix problems with the administration of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. As the Department has been unable to process and approve applications promptly and this has created an additional unintended obligation on borrowers, the organizations ask that Sec. DeVos waive the requirements that borrowers still be working at a public service job when they apply for and receive loan forgiveness,  

The letter may be accessed here.  

Deaths: Leading Causes For 2017

A new report presents final 2017 data on the 10 leading causes of death in the United States by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin. Leading causes of infant, neonatal, and post-neonatal death also are presented. This report supplements “Deaths: Final Data for 2017,” the National Center for Health Statistics’ annual report of final mortality statistics. 

The report can be obtained at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr68/nvsr68_06-508.pdf.

College Degree Attainment Levels In U.S. Rural Areas

A new report from the Center for American Progress is based on an analysis of U.S. Census data at the county level, which shows that rural areas tend to have low college-degree attainment levels, and that urban and suburban areas often feature wide gaps across racial lines. 

The report can be obtained at https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education-postsecondary/reports/2019/06/27/471242/those-left-behind/.

How The Federal Government Supports State And Local Efforts to Improve Rural Health And Health Care

The associate administrator of rural health policy for the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) during an interview provide information on how HRSA and other federal agencies are working to support approaches, including health care delivery models that promote population health, rural health workforce development, and research and policy focused on rural communities. 

The interview can be obtained at https://www.milbank.org/news/how-the-federal-government-in-supporting-state-and-local-efforts-to-improve-rural-health-qa-with-tom-morris/?utm_source=Milbank+Email+List&utm_campaign=06f05c29b8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_06_03_08_51_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dbce9df54c-06f05c29b8-74927185.