Federal shutdown may prompt more RIFs at the CDC, RHT delays at CMS
The CDC’s contingency staffing plans hint that more reduction in force memos may be coming to the agency.
It’s Day 9 of the government shutdown, and furloughed employees across HHS are bracing for pink slips. The Trump administration is prepared to eliminate a number of workers in agencies on a permanent basis as part of its broader strategy to downsize the federal bureaucracy. Depending on how long the shutdown continues, some are speculating that CMS may not have the staff in place to review, score and clear awards for state Rural Health Transformation (RHT) program proposals by year-end, as the statute requires.
Redesigning Rural Health: How States Can Craft a Winning Application
Manatt Health hosted an Ask Manatt Anything session for 80 Million subscribers on Sept. 29, with a panel including Manatt Health’s Anne O’Hagen Karl, Deputy Secretary for North Carolina Medicaid Jay Ludlam and Dr. Jennifer Schneider, co-founder and CEO of Homeward Health, discussing the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) program and how states can set themselves up for success.
Among other tips, our panelists advise states, in coordination with their partners, to:
Approach the $50 billion RHT program as a once-in-a generation transformation opportunity
Focus on “shovel-ready” projects that balance innovation with reasonable expectation of success in execution
Integrate sustainable payment models into regional infrastructure
Prioritize building a resilient rural health workforce through collaboration
In case you need a recap, Congress ideated the $50 billion RHT program in the last hours of budget reconciliation negotiations as a way to offset H.R.1’s trillion-dollar health care cut. The program, which will span fiscal years 2026-30, aims to bolster rural health care delivery and access through a set of bold initiatives aligned with “making rural America healthy again,” creating sustainable access to services and strengthening the workforce. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) dropped a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) memo in September outlining new ways states can apply for funding, which will be awarded by Dec. 31. With applications due to CMS on Nov. 5, states are working at a breakneck pace to get their applications together.
Keep reading at The 80 Million.
ICYMI: States Take Action to ‘Immunize’ Vaccine Access
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practice (ACIP) voted at its most recent meeting in September to narrow its vaccine recommendations for COVID-19 and the combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and varicella (MMRV).
The recommendations were issued in the wake of intense controversy over vaccines at the federal level. CDC’s vaccine recommendations are reverberating throughout the health care system because they determine minimum vaccine coverage requirements for public and private health plans; shape vaccine procurement programs like Vaccines for Children (VFC); have been incorporated into many states’ laws on pharmacist vaccination authority and vaccination requirements for daycares, schools, and health care settings; and undergird certain liability protections for vaccine-related injuries.
While these modest changes — which await sign off by the acting CDC director — likely won’t affect vaccine coverage and access for most people, they have generated confusion that we expect will reduce vaccine uptake.
States, health plans and professional societies have opportunities to support vaccine access based on their own assessments of the medical evidence — without automatically deferring to ACIP’s recommendations.
If the gap continues to widen between the CDC and the medical consensus on appropriate vaccinations, vaccine access may become even more variable depending on where a person lives and their source of health coverage.
Keep reading at The 80 Million.
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state’s Medicaid program, announced the launch of Medicaid-covered Traditional Healing services beginning Oct. 1. Traditional Healing is a system of care deeply rooted in the cultural traditions of Tribal communities and passed down through generations of Tribal healers and knowledge keepers. These practices encompass physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness and may now be reimbursed under Arizona’s Medicaid program through a federally approved section 1115 waiver.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced that the state has launched a portal to enable stakeholders to submit proposals in support of the state’s application for the Rural Health Transformation program.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to protect access to reproductive care and help shield health care providers, patients and lawyers from adverse legal action. AB 260 offers providers the option to prescribe abortion care medication anonymously, ensuring California-regulated health plans cover mifepristone regardless of FDA approval status; and strengthens protections for providers from criminal prosecution and other legal action for administering medication abortion drugs.
New Jersey’s Medicaid program will continue to cover Covid-19 vaccines, according to a state newsletter.
Medicaid cuts could be dangerous for cancer survivors – The Philadelphia Inquirer
States are cutting Medicaid provider payments long before Trump cuts hit – NPR/KFF Health News
In Some States, Strapped Counties Must Impose Trump’s Medicaid Cuts – The New York Times
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