Advocacy
April 29, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra recently renewed the country’s public health emergency that was set to expire April 21. The declaration extends the PHE another 90 days through July 21, 2021. The COVID-19-related emergency was first declared...
April 29, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
The White House and CDC are looking to help states better incorporate primary care into their COVID-19 vaccination strategy. They have launched a three-pronged effort that includes:
providing states with accessible lists of enrolled...
April 29, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
Today the FCC opens a second round of funding for its COVID-19 telehealth program. The agency will distribute at least $150 million in this round, with applications closing May 6. In 2020, the CARES Act established the FCC telehealth...
April 29, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
Primary care payment models out of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation have seen a number of updates in recent weeks. Practices that joined the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model in 2018 recently learned that their...
April 29, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
Hearings began in mid-April for Chiquita Brooks-Lasure, President Biden’s pick to head CMS, along with Andrea Palm, the administration’s nominee for the number two job at HHS. While the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing for Brooks-LaSure...
April 27, 2021
The PCC sent a letter to the chair and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee and the chair and ranking member of the U.S. House of Representatives Labor, Health and...
April 27, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) updated its recommendation for lung cancer screening in March, expanding the current guidelines to include individuals ages 50 to 80 years who have a 20 pack-year smoking history and...
April 7, 2021
The Utah Department of Health issued a primary care spending report using the state’s All Payer Claims Database (APCD). The report uses the Maine Quality Forum’s definition of primary care to calculate the total amount of spending on...
April 5, 2021
Over 40 healthcare organizations—including several primary care providers—in Oregon signed a voluntary compact to advance the adoption of value-based payment (VBP) in the state. The groups committed to making a good-faith effort to “...
March 30, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
The Biden-Harris administration has appointed several officials to health policy positions that may impact primary care. These include Xavier Becerra, who was confirmed as the first Latino Secretary of the Department of Health and Human...
March 30, 2021
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the Request for Applications for the second cohort of Primary Care First (PCF), which is open to all practices in the 26 regions, not just those in the Comprehensive...
March 30, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
On March 15, CMS announced that it was increasing the Medicare payment for administering COVID-19 vaccines to an average of $40 per dose, up from the previous averages of $28.39 for single-dose vaccines; and $16.94 (1st dose), then $28.39...
March 30, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
The Department for Health and Human Services recently released a new issue brief describing health disparities by race and ethnicity during the COVID-19 pandemic, with findings showing disparities in testing, infections and...
March 30, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
Congress has introduced several bills impacting primary care since the start of the year. These include:
the Veterans Access to Direct Primary Care (H.R. 1520), introduced by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas-21), Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.-11),...
March 30, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
The latest COVID-relief bill passed by Congress, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, includes a range of economic and public health support measures, many of which have implications for patients and primary care practices. The package...
March 30, 2021 | Primary Care Collaborative
The most recent COVID-19-related stimulus package included substantial subsidies for healthcare coverage (see above). It builds on the several healthcare-related executive orders Pres. Biden signed within his first weeks office, including...
March 23, 2021
The PCC sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce subcommittee to express its strong support for H.R. 1025, the “Kids’ Access to Primary Care Act of 2021.” The letter was sent...
March 17, 2021
PCC was one of 26 organizations that signed a letter in support of H.R. 1025, the Kids' Access to Primary Care Act of 2021, and sent to the bill's cosponsors, Reps. Kim Schrier, MD (D-Wash.-08); Kathy Castor (D-Fla.-14); and Brian K....
March 9, 2021 | Milbank Memorial Fund
The Milbank Memorial Fund announced March 9, 2021, that Connecticut, Oregon, Nevada, New Jersey, and Washington have been selected to participate in the Peterson-Milbank Program for Sustainable Health Care Costs. With Peterson Center on...
March 8, 2021
On March 5, PCC sent a letter to the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in support of Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has been nominated by President Joe Biden to be U.S. Surgeon General.
The letter said PCC "...
