Rural Health Briefing
Volume XII October 10, 2007
Rural Health Office
UA Zuckerman College of Public Health
in conjunction with the Arizona Rural Health Association, Inc.
National News
- Senate Passes Mental Health Parity Bill
- Rural Hospitals' Experience with the 340B Drug Pricing Program
- Rural Mothers More Likely To Work, But At Lower Wages
- Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plans
- Health Quote of the Month
Across Arizona
- AZ Geriatrics Society Symposium, November 2-3, 2007
- GITA Recognized as Arizona Technology Policy Leader
- Arizona Health-e Connection Recognized Nationally
- Don J. Davis- 2007 Presidential Rank Award Recipient
Grants and Opportunities
- Scholarships Available to Attend 2007 APHA Conference
- Rural Health Network Development (RHND) Grant Program
- The Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program
- Rural Emergency Responders Initiative
- Rural Health Care Service Discounts – USAC
Calendar
Oct 2-3, Rural Health Clinic Conference, San Antonio, Texas
Oct 3-5, Critical Access Hospital Conference, San Antonio, Texas
Oct 7-9, NOSORH Annual Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina
Mark Your Calendar
Oct 31-Nov 2, 2007 Southwest HIV/AIDS Conference, Scottsdale, Arizona
Nov 3-7, APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition, Washington, D.C.
Nov 5-7, HRSA HIT Grantee Meeting, Arlington, Virginia
National News
1. Senate Passes Mental Health Parity Bill
According to a September 18th, 2007 news story by Associated Press writer Frederic J. Frommer, the Senate passed legislation that night which would require equal health insurance coverage for mental and physical illnesses when policies cover both. The Mental Health Parity bill, which passed by unanimous consent, is thought to move advocates one step closer toward the long-time quest for a concept known as mental health parity. According to Senator Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. "This new legislation will bring dramatic new help to millions of Americans who today are denied needed mental health care and treatment."
The news story indicated that passage of the bill occurred on the same day that supporters inundated House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office, urging a vote on mental health parity legislation in the House. Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly is noted as saying that the speaker supports the legislation and would like it to come to a vote on the floor soon. He said a mid-October vote was a realistic target.
Click here for full announcement.
2. Rural Hospitals' Experience with the 340B Drug Pricing Program
A new Policy Brief from the North Carolina Rural Health Research & Policy Analysis Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis presents the results of two surveys conducted with rural hospital Pharmacy Directors in order to learn their perspectives on the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The 340B Program allows qualifying rural hospitals to buy outpatient drugs at reduced prices. However, awareness of the program is still limited and many eligible hospitals are not participating. In order to understand the causes behind the lack of participation one survey was conducted with rural hospitals eligible for the program but not participating. A second survey focused on participating hospitals, addressing issues such as awareness of program support services, factors affecting participation and the benefits and challenges to participating.
Click here to for more information.
3. Rural Mothers More Likely To Work, But At Lower Wages
According to a press release dated September 24, 2007, a new study by the Carsey Institute shows that rural mothers with children under age 6 have higher employment rates than their urban counterparts, but have higher poverty rates, lower wages, and lower family income. In 2004, 69 percent of rural mothers with young children under age 6 were employed, compared with 63 percent of urban mothers. According to Kristin Smith, family demographer with the Carsey Institute and author of the study “Employment Rates Higher Among Rural Mothers Than Urban Mothers,” higher employment rates among rural mothers are not surprising, given that rural mothers with children under 6 have higher poverty rates. Smith states, “As men’s jobs in traditional rural industries such as agriculture, mining, timber and manufacturing disappear due to restructuring of rural labor markets, families increasingly depend on women’s wage labor.” The high labor force participation of rural mothers raises concern about the availability of high quality child care and preschool programs in rural communities, especially considering recent research finding that rural children lag behind urban children in early literacy skills when entering kindergarten.
Click here for full announcement.
4. Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plan
In an October 7th, 2007 news story by New York Times writer Robert Pear, “Tens of thousands of Medicare recipients have been victims of deceptive sales tactics and had claims improperly denied by private insurers that run the system’s huge new drug benefit program and offer other private insurance options encouraged by the Bush administration, a review of scores of federal audits has found.”
The news story indicated that the problems described in 91 audit reports that were reviewed by the New York Times, “include the improper termination of coverage for people with H.I.V. and AIDS, huge backlogs of claims and complaints, and a failure to answer telephone calls from consumers, doctors and drugstores.”
Click here for full announcement.
5. Health Quote of the Month
"We're looking at a deficit of approximately 200,000 physicians by 2020... we will still not catch up [to the demand] in the lifetime of anyone in this room or that of our children."
Health Economist Richard Cooper of the University of Pennsylvania at the 14th annual Princeton Conference sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Health Matters, Congress Daily, July 8, 2007)
Across Arizona
1. AZ Geriatrics Society Symposium, November 2-3, 2007
The Arizona Geriatrics Society is hosting the 19th Annual Fall Symposium, Achieving Excellence in Geriatric Care. The two-day conference is being held at the Black Canyon Conference Center, Phoenix, Arizona, November 2-3, 2007. The Symposium is designed to provide an update on major geriatric disorders for physicians and geriatric healthcare professionals as well as issues that impact the healthcare of older adults. Topics are designed to educate primary care physicians, hospitalists, geriatricians, long-term care physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, case managers, facility administrators and those involved with the medical care of elders. Speakers include national and local experts in the field of geriatric medicine.
Click here for more details and registration information.
2. GITA Recognized as Arizona Technology Policy Leader
The recent State Technology News Brief of September 26, 2007, announced that the Arizona Capitol Times recently chose the Government Information Technology Agency (GITA) as the Leader of the Year in Public Policy in the category of technology. State CIO Chris Cummiskey accepted the award and stated, “I am very excited the Capitol Times chose GITA as its inaugural honoree for technology policy. We have worked hard to implement Governor Napolitano’s vision of transforming government through technology. This award is a tribute to her leadership and the hard work of GITA’s outstanding staff.”
Click here for full announcement.
3. Arizona Health-e Connection Recognized Nationally
A press release dated September 24, 2007 from the Executive Office of Arizona State Governor Janet Napolitano, announced that the Arizona Health-e Connection initiative has been honored by the Council of State Governments with its 2007 Innovation Award. According to the announcement, Governor Napolitano created the Arizona Health-e Connection Steering Committee by executive order in August 2005. In learning of the honor, Governor Napolitano stated, “This is great news. We’ve shown that Health-e Connection is an effective way to improve the quality and reduce the cost of health care in Arizona.” Governor Napolitano added, “Arizona Health-e Connection has become a national model for state governments to develop public-private partnerships that encourage the use of electronic record systems.”
Click here for full announcement.
4. Don J. Davis- 2007 Presidential Rank Award Recipient
In late September, President Bush determined the winners of the 2007 Presidential Rank Award. These awards are given to a very select group of career civil service executives whose integrity, strength, leadership, and sustained performance have earned them one of the most prestigious honors in government. Recipients are selected after nomination by their agency and a rigorous review process that includes evaluation by private citizens. This year the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive in the Department of Health and Human Services has been awarded to Arizona’s own Mr. Don J. Davis, MPH, Director of the Phoenix Area Indian Health Service. Davis currently serves as a member on the Pathways Into Health National Advisory Council.
Click here for a link to the 2007 Presidential Rank Awards.
Grants and Opportunities
Note: Technical assistance is available for the development of grant proposals and other funding applications from the professional staff of the Rural Health Office and the State Office of Rural Health Program. Please contact Jennifer Peters.
1. Scholarships Available to Attend 2007 APHA Conference
The Community-Based Public Health (CBPH) Caucus - the "home" for CBPR at the American Public Health Association - is offering scholarships for community-based organizations (CBO)s to attend the APHA conference, "Politics, Policy and Public Health," November 3-7, 2007 in Washington DC.
The letter of explanation and application can be found on the Caucus's website at http://www.cbphcaucus.org.
For more information, please contact Barb Watson, Caucus Administrator at
734-936-1226 or at bjwatson@umich.edu
2. Rural Health Network Development (RHND) Grant Program
Application Deadline: October 15, 2007
The purpose of the Rural Health Network Development (RHND) Grant Program (HRSA-08-004) is to support the development of rural health networks, whose purpose is to increase access to care by overcoming the fragmentation and vulnerability of providers in rural areas. Grant funds are used to support activities that strengthen capabilities of these networks.
Arizona applicants: Please note that there is a conference call for potential network grant applicants on September 19 at 9:00 am Mountain Standard Time. However, you must register to participate in the call by writing to Mary Collier via mcollier@hrsa.gov and simply requesting a reservation to be on the network grant technical assistance call.
Furthermore, letters of support from the Arizona State Office of Rural Health is a requirement for these grant applications. Your contact at the SORH for support is Jennifer Peters at petersjs@u.arizona.edu and (520) 626-2254.
Click here for further details.
3. The Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program
Application deadline: Ongoing
The Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program is designed to provide loans for funding, on a technology neutral basis, the costs of construction, improvement and acquisition of facilities and equipment to provide broadband services to eligible rural communities. The Programs’ goal is to ensure that rural consumers enjoy the same quality and range of telecommunications services that are available in urban and suburban communities. The project is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development. The brief announcement is available here.
Click here for full announcement details.
4. Rural Emergency Responders Initiative
Application deadline: Accepted Ongoing
The Rural Development, through its community facilities program, provides funding for the Rural Emergency Responders Initiative to specifically strengthen the ability of rural communities to respond to local emergencies. The community facilities program funds are used to support rural emergency responder efforts by financing needed equipment and services. The project is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development. The brief announcement is available here.
Click here for additional details.
5. Rural Health Care Service Discounts – USAC
Application deadline: Accepted Ongoing Except Prorated
The Rural Health Care Division of Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) is responsible for ensuring that health care providers in rural areas obtain the benefits of the Internet and current telecommunications technology as provided for by the United States Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) through universal service support. Applications are being accepted on an ongoing basis. For full year funding for funding year 2007 (7/1/07 - 6/30/08), applications should be submitted by June 2, 2007. Later applications will be pro-rated.
Click here for additional details.
Contact Your Representatives
a. Arizona Congressional Delegation: Links to Arizona members of the U.S. House of Representatives are available at: U.S. Representatives. Links to Arizona members of the U.S. Senate are available at: U.S. Senate
b. Arizona State Legislators: Available through the Arizona Legislative Information System (ALIS): Call 1-800-352-8404 or follow links at Arizona Legislature.
Important Links
Editor's Note: This online newsletter is a joint project of the Rural Health Office housed at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health, and the Arizona Rural Health Association, Inc. The mission of the Rural Health Office is to promote the health of rural and medically underserved individuals, families, and communities through service, education and research. The Arizona Rural Health Association, Inc. advocates on behalf of the health needs of rural Arizonans at national, state and local levels. Its multidisciplinary membership provides a respected and highly effective group of rural health practitioners and rural community residents. For example, the AzRHA, Inc. has actively and successfully advocated with the state legislature for funding for tele-medicine and mobile clinics in all fifteen counties of the state.
Your questions (or answers) are always welcome. Please send them as well as address changes to Taya Waltke, Administrative Associate, Rural Health Office.
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