The following is an update of selected state health policy developments in Pennsylvania for the week of September 13-17, 2021.  (Some of the language used below is taken directly from state documents.)

General Assembly

• The House Aging & Older Adult Services Committee held a hearing on Monday, September 13 to review the waivers and regulatory flexibilities related to the treatment and care of older adults in Pennsylvania.  The departments of Aging, Health, and Human Services appeared before the committee.  Find the Department of Human Services testimony here, the Department of Aging’s testimony here, and a video of the hearing here.
• On Tuesday the House Health Committee voted to send a letter to the Commonwealth Joint Committee on Documents requesting a determination of whether the Acting Secretary of Health’s order mandating masks in K-12 schools and child care centers is subject to the regulatory process and the Regulatory Review Act.
• The Senate Health & Human Services and Aging & Youth committees held a joint hearing on Wednesday, September 15 to examine Part 1 of the Department of Health’s proposed long-term-care nursing facility regulations.  Find testimony submitted to the committees and a video of the hearing here.
• The House and Senate will return to voting session next week.  The House will convene on September 20, 21, and 22 and the Senate will be in session on September 21 and 22.  The General Assembly will focus on the Wolf administration’s mask mandate for K-12 schools and COVID-19 regulatory waivers and flexibilities.  A number of committee meetings are scheduled as well.  The following is a list of selected health-related committee meetings and legislation that will be considered.
• • The House Professional Licensure Committee will meet on Monday, September 20 to consider Senate Bills 397 and 398, which amend the Medical Practice Act and the Osteopathic Medical Practice Act, respectively, to update the requirements for physician assistants.  Following its voting meeting the committee will hold an informational hearing on the pharmacy-related regulatory waivers and suspensions issued by the Department of State during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • The House State Government Committee will meet on Monday, September 20 to consider House Bill 1861, which amends the Administrative Code to provide for certain definitions and temporary regulatory flexibility.
  • The House Health Committee will meet on Monday, September 20 to consider House Bill 1774, which extends the sunset date for the Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Program.
  • The Senate Health & Human Services Committee will meet on Tuesday, September 21 to consider, among other bills, Senate Bill 815, which prohibits pelvic, rectal, and prostate exams without explicit consent of the patient, and Senate Bill 818, which aligns Pennsylvania’s ambulatory surgical center-approved procedures with those of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
  • The House Human Services Committee will hold an information hearing on Wednesday, September 22 to review the opioid litigation settlements.

Department of Health

• The Department of Health has published data on “breakthrough” COVID-19 cases, including how many people who have been vaccinated have contracted COVID-19, how many vaccinated people have been hospitalized because of the virus, and how many have died because of the virus.  The department’s announcement also explains its methodology for arriving at these figures.  Find the information here.  The results also are summarized in this Wolf administration news release.
• The Department of Health has updated its guidance for return to work criteria for health care workers with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection and work restrictions for health care personnel exposed to COVID-19.
• The Department of Health has circulated updated guidance it received from CMS regarding long-term-care facility testing requirements for staff and residents.  The revised requirements call for staff testing based on the facility’s county level of community transmission rather than county test positivity rate and the frequency of testing has also been updated.  Go here to see the full guidance; changes are noted in red.
• Acting Physician General Dr. Denise Johnson and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia director of the Vaccine Education Center and professor of pediatrics Dr. Paul Offit have developed a video for Pennsylvanians answering questions about vaccine safety.  Find the video here.

Department of Human Services

• The Department of Human Services announced that effective June 1, 2021, it has reinstated the provider revalidation requirements that were applicable prior to the public health emergency.  See its notice here.
• In response to the COVID-19 emergency, the Department of Human Services suspended many state regulatory requirements for health and human services providers.  Now, it has published an updated list of regulatory suspensions that will expire on September 30.  The department’s notice explains that “…the September 30, 2021 expiration date only affects state regulations that were suspended under the state disaster emergency declaration.  Federal flexibilities provided through the federal public health emergency will remain in place as long as the federal public health emergency remains in effect.”  Find the announcement here.
• DHS has updated its order directing licensed child care providers to wear face masks.
• DHS has announced that it will distribute $278 million in American Rescue Plan funds appropriated by the General Assembly to nursing facilities, personal care homes, and assisted living residences in DHS’s Office of Long-Term Living system.  An additional $5 million will be spent to provide grants of $15,000 per grantee for long-term-care facilities to improve indoor air quality.  See the DHS announcement here.

COVID-19:  By the Numbers

• The daily number of new COVID-19 cases remained high this week, including the highest single-day count of new cases since April 13.
• The number of new COVID-19-related deaths increased over the past week.
• For the second consecutive week, every county in Pennsylvania is experiencing a high level of COVID-19 transmission.
• The number of Pennsylvanians hospitalized because of COVID-19, on ventilators, and in hospital intensive care units because of the virus continued to rise over the past week but more slowly than in recent weeks.
• According to the state’s revised figures, 67.5 percent of Pennsylvanians 18 years of age and older are now fully vaccinated – 6.1 million people – up from 66.8 percent last week.  Only 13,000 Philadelphians and 54,000 other Pennsylvanians (fewer than last week) completed a vaccine regimen in the past week.

Around the State

• “Regulatory waivers established last year to help hospitals and health-care workers fight COVID-19 will expire this month, and those in the field are warning the lapse could exacerbate an ongoing staffing crisis as coronavirus cases rise again,” according to Spotlight PA.  Learn more from its report.
• Driven by rising numbers of COVID-19 cases, waiting times in western Pennsylvania emergency departments are “…the worst I’ve seen them for very long periods of time, and I’ve been around for over 30 years in emergency medicine,” a doctor told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
• Some doctors in Pennsylvania may be offering notes to people seeking COVID-19 mask mandate exemptions for their school-aged children without a legitimate basis for those exemptions.  The Department of Health is looking into this, according to the Associated Press.
• Federal law enforcement officials seized two shipments of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review informed its readers.
• Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records has ordered the Department of Health to disclose how many people have been certified to use medical marijuana to treat their opioid use problem.  Spotlight PA tells the story.
• “Blair County will be adding five staffers to address mental health issues after the state approved two grants for the mobile crisis and student assistance programs,” the Altoona Mirror reports.
• Citing reduced patient demand and staffing shortages, the Sharon Regional Medical Center will close its maternity unit around the end of the year, according to the Sharon Herald.
• Spotlight PA has been reporting on what it calls “Pa.’s looming dementia care crisis.”  Now, the organization has published numbers to illustrate the extent of the problem.

Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4)

PHC4 has issued its latest legislatively mandated report summarizing the additional expenses the state’s hospitals have incurred and the revenue losses they have experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The report covers the period from January of 2020 through June of 2021 but does not reflect federal emergency funding provided to help offset both the additional expenses and the lost revenue.  Find the report here.

Stakeholder Events

• The consumer subcommittee of the Medical Assistance Advisory Committee will meet on September 22 at 1:00 pm.  Go here to register to participate remotely.
• The Medical Assistance Advisory Committee will meet on September 23, 2021 at 10:00 am.  Go here to register to participate remotely.
• The Patient Safety Authority will hold a virtual public meeting on Thursday, September 23 at 1:00 p.m. and it is open to the general public.  For information about how to join the meeting, see this Pennsylvania Bulletin notice.