ASAHP Joins Amicus Brief in Support of Consideration of Race in Higher Education Admissions

ASAHP joined the Association of American Medical Colleges and 45 health professional and educational organizations in an amicus curiae brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the limited consideration of an applicant’s racial or ethnic background or experiences in higher education admissions in the Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina cases before the Court this fall. A ruling is expected in June 2023.

The amicus curiae brief may be accessed here. The AAMC’s press release may be accessed here.

ASAHP Spotlight: Leslie Gray, M.Ed., CPO, LPO, FAAOP

The ASAHP Spotlight Interview Series highlights research and initiatives in the health professions from our fellow members. Join us on Tuesday, August 2 at 1pm ET as we interview Leslie Gray, M.Ed., CPO, LPO, FAAOP, Program Director at UT Southwestern’s Department of Prosthetics-Orthotics. This interview will be our first spotlight of Prosthetics-Orthotics. We’ll go into detail on what prosthetics-orthotics is and what makes their program unique, as one of thirteen programs in the country.

The interview will take place on our Facebook page and live streamed on our website.

Health Insurance Coverage Increases

The share of uninsured Americans fell 1.5 percentage point to 8% between first-quarter 2021 and first-quarter 2022, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The result is that approximately 4.4 million fewer individuals no longer are uninsured. 

The report can be obtained at Health Insurance Coverage: Early Release of Quarterly Estimates From the National Health Interview Survey,January 2021–March 2022 (cdc.gov).

Senate Releases FY 23 Appropriations bills

Today, Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy (D-VT) released the Committees FY 23 appropriations bills. The $1.67 trillion Appropriations package includes $653 billion in non-defense discretionary spending, a 10.1 percent increase over fiscal year 2022, $850 billion in defense discretionary spending, an 8.7 percent increase over fiscal year 2022, and $118.7 billion for VA medical care, a 22 percent increase over fiscal year 2022.

The Labor-HHS bill includes $119.7 billion in discretionary funding for HHS, an increase of $11.6 billion over FY 22 enacted levels and $3.6 billion less than President Joe Biden's request for the department.

The Labor-HHS bill includes $676.8 million ($158.1 million increase, or 30% increase over FY 22 enacted levels) for HRSA Title VII health professions programs, and $318.5 million ($38 million increase, or 14% increase over FY 22 enacted levels) for the HRSA Title VIII nursing workforce programs, for a total of $995.3 million for these programs. The explanatory statement also included $30 million for the new Preventing Burnout in the Health Workforce program, $5 million over the proposed funding level in the House Labor-HHS bill.

The bills will be used as the Senate’s mark in negotiations with the House, likely after the midterm elections if a topline spending agreement can be reached with Republicans.

A press release may be accessed here, a summary of the 12 bills is here, and the Labor-HHS bill details are here: bill text, explanatory statement, summary. A funding chart for the HRSA title VII and title VIII health workforce programs is available here.

IPEC Faculty Development Institute

The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) will be hosting its 2022 IPEC Institute September 28-30, returning to the popular theme of building interprofessional education for collaborative practice (IPECP). Participants will engage with national leaders in acquiring the building blocks for IPECP. Institute attendees will spend significant time planning, building, designing, assessing and acting on their IPECP goals and projects, as well as communicating effectively about IPECP.

More details may be accessed here.

House Passes Medicare Telehealth Bill

Today, the House passed H.R. 4040, the Advancing Telehealth Beyond COVID-19 Act of 2022 by a 416-12 vote. The bill would make permanent several telehealth flexibilities under Medicare that were initially authorized during the public health emergency relating to COVID-19. The bill is expected to pass the Senate, though when it sees the Senate floor is uncertain.

More details may be accessed here.

Enhanced Nursing Home Rating System

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today launched its enhanced Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Rating System, which integrates data nursing homes report on their weekend staffing rates for nurses and information on annual turnover among nurses and administrators. The updated Star Ratings increase transparency in support of improving the quality of nursing homes so that residents receive reliable, quality care. 

More information can be obtained at CMS Enhances Nursing Home Rating System with Staffing and Turnover Data | CMS.

PSLF Coalition Webinar on Updates to PSLF

The PSLF Coalition and Equal Justice Works are hosting a webinar on the most recent updates to the PSLF program and how to apply for PSLF during the temporary waiver offered by the Department of Education. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, August 3 at noon Eastern.

Registration details may be accessed here.

Student Borrower Protection Center Webinar Series

The Student Borrower Protection Center is holding a webinar panel series on student loans. Webinars will be held on August 2 (Addressing the Flaws of the Current Student Loan Collection System), August 9 (Solutions to Address Student Loan Default and Collections), and August 16 (The Role of States in Reforming Our Broken Student Loan Collection System).

Details may be accessed here.

Falls Prevention In Older Adults

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force posted today a final research plan on interventions to prevent falls in community-dwelling older adults. The draft research plan for this topic was posted for public comment from April 21, 2022, to May 18, 2022. The Task Force reviewed all comments that were submitted and took them into consideration as it finalized the research plan. 

The plan can be obtained at Recommendation: Falls Prevention in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Interventions | United States Preventive Services Taskforce (uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org).

Health Spending Variations

Findings from a study published in JAMA Network Open suggest that payer-specific factors are correlated with health spending variation among Medicare beneficiaries, Medicaid beneficiaries, and the commercially insured and that payer-specific policies will be necessary to improve efficiency in the US health sector. 

The article can be obtained at Geographical Variation in Health Spending Across the US Among Privately Insured Individuals and Enrollees in Medicaid and Medicare | Health Care Economics, Insurance, Payment | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network.

House Passes Mental Health Bills

The House passed two mental health bills pertaining to higher education last month. HR 5407, Enhancing Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Through Campus Planning Act, would direct the Department of Education to encourage institutions of higher education to develop and implement evidence-based comprehensive campus mental health and suicide prevention plans. HR 6493, Campus Prevention and Recovery Services for Students Act of 2022, would reauthorizes and revises the illicit drug and alcohol abuse prevention program, including by expanding the program to include efforts to prevent substance misuse on campuses. Both bills have been introduced in the Senate, awaiting further action.

Inside Higher Ed’s coverage may be accessed here. The bills may be accessed here and here.

IPEC Summer Member Meeting Report

The 2022 Summer Meeting of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Council took place in Washington, DC on Monday, June 27, 2022. The theme of this year’s meeting was “Advancing Interprofessional Education and Practice Through Collaborations”. ASAHP was represented by ASAHP Partnerships, Alliances and Advocacy Committee and Interprofessional Task Force Chair Dr. Anthony Breitbach.

View full meeting report written by Dr. Anthony Breitbach here.

U.S. Department of Education Rulemaking, Public Comment Opportunity on Student Loans

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Education released their notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on student loans and affordability issues, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The Department is accepting public comments through August 12.

The NPRM may be accessed here. A July 6 Department of Education press release is available here.

Biden administration Extends Covid-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration

On Friday, the Biden Administration extended the Covid-19 public health emergency declaration through October 13, 2022. This allows for the continuation of benefits including access to coronavirus testing, vaccines, treatments, and telehealth services.

The declaration may be accessed here.

988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Launches

The three-digit number, 988, for the suicide and crisis lifeline officially launched on Saturday. In 2020, Congress designated the new 988 dialing code to be operated through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

More details may be accessed here.

How To Improve Medicare’s Home Health Benefit

Medicare’s home health benefit is used by patients to access post-acute care or help in managing chronic conditions, but restrictions limit its potential to improve their health and well-being. A recent blog from the Commonwealth Fund discusses insights from interviews with a diverse group of Medicare home health users to understand the experiences and challenges they face. 

The blog can be obtained at Improving Help at Home: Medicare Beneficiaries’ and Caregivers’ Experiences | Commonwealth Fund.

Geriatric Academic Career Award Forecasted Opportunity

The Geriatrics Academic Career Award (GACA) Program supports 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. There are 26 expected awards, and the estimated post date for the opportunity is August 11, 2022, and the estimated application due date is November 10, 2022.

More details may be accessed here.

ACE Webinar: How the PSLF Waiver Can Help Your Campus

The American Council on Education, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, will hold a webinar to help campus leaders learn about the temporary changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and how they can help borrowers who are seeking to have their student loan debt forgiven. These changes expand the benefit to more nonprofit employees and will aid numerous college and university employees, students, alumni, and their families. Join this webinar to learn from a Department of Education expert about how to take advantage of these changes and submit waivers by the October 31 deadline. The event will be held on Tuesday, July 12 at 2:00pm Eastern.

Registration is available here.