Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program
CMS is accepting new applications for the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration. The RFA opened December 20, and hospitals interested must apply by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 1, 2025.
New Global Strategy to Promote Innovation, Cooperation, and Equity
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Office of Global Affairs, launched a new Global Strategy that expands the Department’s focus, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, from not only responding to disease and outbreaks but increased emphasis on improving foundational support and proactively making communities healthier.
Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disease and Death, Addressing Health Disparities
The Surgeon General released a new report on health disparities related to tobacco use, which finds that despite the nation’s substantial progress in reducing cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure in the overall U.S. population, that progress has not been equal for all population groups.
New Policies to Reduce Maternal Mortality, Increase Access to Care, and Advance Health Equity
HHS introduces new requirements for maternal safety standards, eliminates barriers to care for underserved communities.
MSSP Continues to Deliver Meaningful Savings and High-Quality Health Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that the Medicare Shared Savings Program continues to save Medicare money while supporting high-quality care. The Shared Savings Program yielded more than $2.1 billion in net savings in 2023 — the largest savings in the Shared Savings Program’s history.
The United States, Canada, and Mexico Unveil Efforts to Strengthen Regional Health Security
NAPAHPI is a flexible, scalable, and cross-sectoral platform to strengthen regional capacities for prevention, preparedness, and response to a broad range of health security threats that builds on lessons learned from COVID-19 and other health security events in the last decade.
Historic Investment to Integrate Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment into Primary Care
HRSA announced $240 million in awards to launch and expand mental health and substance use disorder services in more than 400 community health centers across the country that care for more than 10 million people.
Final Rules Strengthen Access to Mental Health Benefits
The departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury took significant action recently by issuing final rules to clarify and strengthen protections to expand equitable access to these benefits as compared to medical and surgical benefits and reduce barriers to accessing these services.
U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents
United States Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents, highlighting the urgent need to better support parents, caregivers, and families to help our communities thrive.
OCR Celebrates the 28th Anniversary of HIPAA
Twenty-eight years ago, President Bill Clinton signed this historic bipartisan legislation into law. HIPAA ushered in many needed health care reforms. Today, HIPAA is best associated with requiring, for the first time, a set of standards for safeguarding the privacy and security of individually identifiable health information; it is administered and enforced by OCR.
$9 Million to Improve Access to Cancer Screening and Connections to Follow-up Treatment
Funding will leverage outreach specialists and patient navigators to conduct engagement in underserved communities to promote early cancer detection, connect people to screening services, and provide assistance accessing cancer care and treatment.
$45.1 Million to Expand Mental Health and Substance Use Services Across the Lifespan
SAMHSA announced grant awards totaling $45.1 million, of which $15.3 million will fund services specifically for children and youth. This funding highlights the Biden-Harris Administration’s continued commitment to address the mental health and overdose crises – two key pillars of the President’s Unity Agenda for the Nation.
