The following is an update of selected state health policy developments in Pennsylvania for the week of August 1-5, 2022.  (Some of the language used below is taken directly from state documents.)

Department of Human Services

• The Department of Human Services (DHS) has issued a news release reminding current HealthChoices participants that as a result of changes in that program, approximately 500,000 people must select a new health plan by August 16.  Those people have received written notices explaining the situation and their need to act.  Individuals who do not choose a new plan will have one auto-assigned to them.  Learn more about this situation, including where individuals can turn for assistance, from this DHS news release.
• Providers also can help their Medical Assistance patients select new plans, if they need to do so, by directing them to a virtual event during which representatives from DHS, PA Enrollment Services (the state’s independent enrollment service), the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, and the Pennsylvania Health Access Network will answer questions about enrollment concerns.  The webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 10 at 2:00.  Registration is required and space is limited.  For further information and registration information, providers should direct Medical Assistance patients here.
• While Governor Wolf signed legislation last month amending the state’s Mental Health Procedures Act to align with federal health privacy standards to permit providers, facilities, and health plans to share patient mental health and substance use disorder-related information more easily, DHS’s Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) has informed stakeholders that it is still reviewing the new law to determine its next steps and will be in touch with stakeholders when it is prepared to act.  Learn more in the message OMHSAS sent to stakeholders about this subject.
• DHS has published Medicaid managed care enrollment data for April, May, and June of 2022.
• DHS has announced a grant opportunity for home health agencies that provide pediatric shift nursing services to fund the installation and use of certified electronic health record technology.  Learn more about the grant opportunity here.  Applications are due September 19.

Department of Health

• The Department of Health (DOH) has issued guidance on the implementation of Act 87 of 2022, which amends the Health Care Facilities Act by expanding what procedures may be performed in an ambulatory surgical facility without an exception; creating a time frame in which exception requests must be denied, approved, or determined to be incomplete; and requiring an explanation of the basis for a denied or incomplete request.  Find that guidance here.
• The Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) has issued its comments, and shared the comments of stakeholders, in response to DOH’s proposed revision of state regulations governing long-term care nursing facilities.  Those comments include IRRC questions to DOH about selected aspects of its proposed revisions.  Find the IRRC’s comments and questions in this Pennsylvania Bulletin notice.
• DOH has announced the creation of a new Women, Infants and Children Advisory Group that will focus on providing support to foster healthier pregnancies and better postpartum care.  Learn more about the advisory group and the 16 individuals appointed to serve on it from this news release.
• DOH has updated its alcohol-based hand rub memo, seeking to promote use of alcohol-based hand rubs by addressing misconceptions regarding their safety, use, and efficacy in health care facilities.  Find that updated memo here.
• DOH has sent an email to all long-term-care facilities with their annual Department of Health long-term-care questionnaire.  This questionnaire is mandatory for facilities and must be completed and returned to DOH by October 28.  Facilities that have not yet received this email from Thomas Gavrish should contact him at tgavrish@pa.gov or call 717-547-3660.

COVID-19:  By the Numbers

• The daily average of newly reported COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania fell 21 percent over the past week and the number of COVID-related deaths fell 29 percent.
• The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 and on ventilators changed only slightly in the past week but the number in hospital ICUs because of the virus rose 21 percent.
• Sixty-five of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are currently experiencing a high rate of community transmission of COVID-19, down from 67 counties last week.  The other two counties, McKean and Warren, are experiencing a substantial rate of community transmission.
• The Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) has released COVID-19 hospitalization data for the 21-month period March 1, 2020 through December 31, 2021.  The report covers number of hospitalizations by month; age, gender, and ethnicity of hospitalized patients; the socioeconomic status of the communities in which hospitalized patients reside; in-hospital mortality rates, including by age; length of stay; and frequency of ventilator use, including by age, patient ethnicity, and the socioeconomic status of the communities in which patients resided.  Learn more from this PHC4 news release; a summary of the report’s findings; county rates (this link opens a downloadable Excel file); and patient demographics (this link also opens a downloadable Excel file).

Monkeypox

The Department of Health has posted a monkeypox fact sheet that addresses what the virus is, its symptoms, how it is transmitted, how it is treated, and how vaccines are being used to prevent it among high-risk individuals.  Find the fact sheet here.

The CDC has posted an updated map showing the distribution of 7102 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the U.S. as of August 4, a 53 percent increase in the last week.  192 of those cases were in Pennsylvania, a 68 percent increase over a week ago.

As of August 1, eighty-two of those Pennsylvania monkeypox cases were in Philadelphia.  The city has responded in part by establishing a new digital monkeypox dashboard with case and vaccination data.

Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs

The Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs has released a licensing alert that gives providers information about its process for investigating complaints about licensed drug and alcohol treatment facilities.  Find that alert here.

Insurance Department

The Insurance Department has released the requested rate filings for health insurance plans for 2023 that plans are required to file with the state.  As filed, 2023 will see increased competition and more choices for consumers in some counties.  Insurers offering plans in the individual market filed plans requesting an average state-wide increase of 7.1 percent and those currently selling in Pennsylvania’s small group market filed plans requesting an average state-wide increase of 5.2 percent.  Learn more from this Insurance Department news release and find the rate filings here.

Stakeholder Events

Department of Health – State Child Death Review Team – August 10

The Department of Health’s State Child Death Review Team will hold a virtual public meeting on

Wednesday, August 10 at 1:00.  The state’s Child Death Review Program provides training and technical assistance to local child death review teams.  Learn more about the State Child Death Review Team and how to join the August 10 meeting from this Pennsylvania Bulletin notice.

Department of Health – Pennsylvania Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Board – October 25

The Department of Health’s Pennsylvania Achieving Better Care by Monitoring All Prescriptions Board will hold its next meeting on Tuesday, October 25 at 9:30.  The meeting location will depend on COVID-19 mitigation efforts at that time.  If the meeting can be held in person it will be in Room 129 in the Pennsylvania Health and Welfare Building at 625 Forster Street in Harrisburg.  If the meeting is held virtually it will be held at bit.ly/ABC_MAP.  To dial in, call 267-332-8737, conference ID 440 338 696#.  Learn more from this Pennsylvania Bulletin notice.