State Support Needed For Family Caregivers

Approximately 18 million family members in the United States provide care to older individuals who need assistance. Many states are not fully prepared to meet the needs of older adults, despite being the primary funders of long-term services and supports. While there’s no common system for sharing best practices in caregiving policy, five states have come together to learn from each other through an initiative by the John A. Hartford Foundation. 

Information about the initiative can be obtained at https://www.johnahartford.org/blog/view/states-need-pragmatic-policy-solutions-to-better-support-family-caregivers.

Modernizing Part D And Medicare Advantage To Lower Drug Prices And Reduce Out-Of-Pocket Expenses

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule to make revisions to the Medicare Advantage (MA) program (Part C) and Prescription Drug Benefit Program (Part D) regulations to support health and drug plans’ negotiation for lower drug prices; and reduce out-of-pocket costs for enrollees. Comments will be accepted from the public until no later than 5 p.m. on January 25, 2019. 

The proposed rule can be obtained at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2018-25945.pdf.

Register Now for the Last IPEC Webinar Event of the Year!

Join us on Thursday, December 13 at 2:00 p.m. ET for a webinar featuring a presentation by the East Tennessee State University (ETSU) team on their project East Tennessee State University Responds to the Opioid Epidemic Through Interprofessional Education, Community Engagement, Research, and Clinical Care. As recipients of the 2018 U.S. Public Health Service IPEC Award, Drs. Robert Pack and Angela Hagaman will provide key insights on the goals, public health significance, rationale, and results of their award-winning program.

Click here for more information and to register for this webinar.

Incarcerated Father Reentry And Child Health Outcomes

According to the Urban Institute, more than 2.7 million children have an incarcerated parent and many more have experienced a parent’s incarceration at some point. Research finds that parental incarceration negatively affects children’s physical, mental, and emotional health. A brief explores children’s behaviors when a father is incarcerated and when he has been released. Outcomes are compared with those of children whose fathers never have been incarcerated. 

The brief can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99370/father_reentry_and_children_outcomes_1.pdf.

Are Marketplace Premiums Higher In Rural Than In Urban Areas?

The Urban Institute is undertaking a comprehensive monitoring and tracking project to examine the implementation and effects of health reform. A way of doing so is to examine silver benchmark premiums for every rating region for 2016 and 2017, differentiating between predominantly urban and rural premium rating areas.  

A report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99341/moni-ruralurban_-_final_0.pdf.

Department Of Education Proposed Rule On Title IX Sexual Assault

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) released a proposed rule on Title IX sexual assault. A 60-day comment period will be announced. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in September 2017 rescinded the 2011 and 2014 guidelines issued by the Obama administration on campus sexual assault. Since then, she has been gathering information from a wide array of groups.

 The proposed rule can be obtained at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/title-ix-nprm.pdf.

Post-Millennials On Track To Be Most Diverse, Best-Educated Generation

A new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data finds that the “post-Millennial” generation is already the most racially and ethnically diverse generation, as a bare majority of 6- to 21-year-olds (52%) are non-Hispanic whites. While most are still pursuing their K-12 education, the oldest post-Millennials are enrolling in college at a significantly higher rate than Millennials were at a comparable age. 

The report can be obtained at file:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Post-Millennials-Report_final-11.13pm.pdf.

Creating And Maintaining A Positive Racial Climate On Campus

A new report from the American Council on Education (ACE) explores what led to the University of Missouri’s 2015-16 racial crisis and how the institution has since responded, offering recommendations to college and university leaders who strive to create and maintain a positive racial climate on campus. 

The report can be obtained at https://www.acenet.edu/news-room/documents/speaking-truth-and-acting-with-integrity.pdf.

HRSA Geriatrics Academic Career Awards Funding Opportunity and TA Session

HRSA has released the notice of funding opportunity for the Geriatrics Academic Career Awards (GACA) Program grant application.  The purpose of the GACA program is to support the career development of individual junior faculty in geriatrics at accredited schools of allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, dentistry, pharmacy, or allied health as academic geriatrics specialists and to provide clinical training in geriatrics, including the training of interprofessional teams of health care professionals.  Eligible applicant organizations include accredited schools of allopathic medicine, osteopathic medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, dentistry, pharmacy, or allied health.

The links below show where you can download the NOFO:

• https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=310330

• https://bhw.hrsa.gov/fundingopportunities/default.aspx

Below is a list of the time in several time zones of the upcoming technical assistance (TA) session for the GWEP:

GACA TA on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 from

• 2:00-3:30pm EST;

• 3-4:30pm Atlantic ST;

• 1:00-2:30pm CST; Noon-1:30pm MST;

• 11am-12:30pm PST; 

• 10-11:30am Alaska ST;

• 9-10:30am Hawai’i ST

Adobe Connect URL for Participants:   https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/gaca_nofo_ta_11_6_18/

Audio Conference details: Dial-in: 800-779-7685; Participant Code: 8410654

A special question and answer (Q and A) session will be announced on the November 20 call but is currently expected to take place on December 5th. Dr. Joan Weiss can be reached at jweiss@hrsa.gov if you have any questions.

Addressing Patients’ Social Needs

A growing number of health care providers and insurance plans are taking steps to address their clients' social needs — even building affordable housing, in some cases. A new post by the Commonwealth Fund indicates that the next challenge is figuring out which interventions work best, how to pay for them, and how to take them to scale. 

The post can be obtained at https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2018/tools-and-strategies-effectively-and-sustainably-address-patients-social-needs?omnicid=EALERT1510313&mid=thomas@asahp.org.

HRSA Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program Funding Opportunity and TA Session

HRSA has announced a notice of funding opportunity for the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP). The purpose of this program is to improve health outcomes for older adults by developing a healthcare workforce that maximizes patient and family engagement, and by integrating geriatrics and primary care.

HRSA will hold a technical assistance (TA) session for the GWEP on Wednesday, November 21 from 2-3:30pm EST.

Adobe Connect URL for Participants: https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/gwep_nofo_ta_11_7_18/

Audio Conference details: Dial-in: 800-779-1443; Participant Code: 6613948

A special question and answer (Q and A) session will be announced on the November 21 call but is currently expected to take place on December 5th.

More details may be accessed here.

Employment For Graduates Of Liberal Arts Programs

A new report from the Strada Institute for the Future of Work and Emsi examines how uniquely human skills fostered by a liberal arts education, e.g., leadership, communication, and problem-solving, are the most in-demand in the labor market and the least likely to become automated. Human skills alone, however, will not be enough. A “both, and” mentality embraces the duality of technical skills with uniquely human skills. 

The report can be obtained at https://www.economicmodeling.com/human-skills/.

Workers’ Experience Under The Affordable Care Act

Whether the coverage provisions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) would lead to adverse labor market consequences in the form of reduced employment, hours worked, or earnings has been the subject of substantial debate and analysis. A brief from the Urban Institute assesses whether coverage gains from 2010 to 2016 were associated with changes in labor market outcomes across occupations. 

The brief can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/99310/how_have_workers_fared_under_the_aca.pdf.

HRSA Public Comment Request on Data Collection

HRSA has announced plans to submit an Information Collection Request to the Office of Management and Budget. HRSA seeks comments from the public regarding the burden estimate, or any other aspect of the ICR on Bureau of Health Workforce performance data collection. Comments should be received no later than December 17, 2018.

More information may be accessed here.

Week One Enrollment On Healthcare.Gov Platform

In week one (it was only three days long) of Open Enrollment for 2019, using the HealthCare.gov platform 371,676 individuals selected plans. Every week during Open Enrollment, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will release enrollment snapshots for the HealthCare.gov platform, which is used by the Federally-facilitated Exchanges, the State Partnership Exchanges, and some State-based Exchanges.

Enrollment data can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/weekly-enrollment-snapshot-week-1.

Enrollees And Employees In Postsecondary Institutions, Fall 2017

A report from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) presents preliminary data findings from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) spring 2018 collection, which included four survey components: Enrollment for fall 2017; Finance for fiscal year 2017; data on employees in postsecondary education for Fall 2017; and data for Academic Libraries for fiscal year 2017. 

The report can be obtained at https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019021.pdf.

Impact Of Sociodemographic Characteristics On Mortality Rates

According to a study published on November 2, 2018 in JAMA Network Open, a greater prevalence of characteristics associated with black race, but not race itself, was associated with higher mortality risk after acute myocardial infarction. The authors suggest that further understanding of the mechanism by which socioeconomic status affects survival may be an important target for future research. 

The article can be obtained at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2712182.

How Employers Can Control Health Costs

Employers have had some success in controlling rising health care costs, but they have done so mainly by shifting costs to employees through high-deductible health care plans. Commonwealth Fund authors note in the Harvard Business Review that employers can better face the challenge of high costs by joining together to form purchasing alliances.

The paper can be obtained at https://hbr.org/2018/11/to-control-health-care-costs-u-s-employers-should-form-purchasing-alliances.

Call for Negotiated Rulemaking Nominations on Accreditation and State Authorization

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education has announced their intention to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee that will cover topics such as accreditation, innovation, state authorization, and distance education. Nominations may be made to the Accreditation and Innovation Committee as well as three subcommittees: the Distance Learning and Educational Innovation Subcommittee; the Faith-Based Entities Subcommittee; and the TEACH Grants Subcommittee. Nominations must be received by November 15, 2018.

More information may be accessed here and here.

Roadmap For Reinventing U.S. Health Care

NEHI, the Network for Excellence in Health Innovation, released “Health Care Without Walls: A Roadmap For Reinventing U.S. Health Care.” The report indicates that by combining technologies, such as telehealth with a reconfigured workforce, the nation’s health care system could be transformed into one that better anticipates individuals’ needs, works to keep them as healthy as possible, and brings prevention and care out of conventional institutional settings into homes, workplaces, and other convenient locations.    

An executive summary can be obtained as a free download at https://www.nehi.net/.