On October 1, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will make an additional $20 billion in Provider Relief funds available to ‘frontline’ providers, including those that have already received their full amount from the General Distribution. Providers were previously eligible to receive up to 2% of net patient revenues.

Submit questions in advance to trainings@nachc.org.

TPCA created a COVID-19 Resources page that contains information and tools for health centers and the general public on a variety of COVID-19 related topics including TPCA’s COVID-19 Updates, human resources & operations, telehealth, and PPE.

On Monday, the Division of TennCare and the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) announced the state’s new Katie Beckett Program has received federal approval and expects to begin taking self-referral forms on November 23, 2020.  

The Katie Beckett Program is a program for children with disabilities and/or complex medical needs who are not currently Medicaid eligible because of their parent’s income or assets. The waiver will allow these families to apply for financial aid for medical care not covered by private insurance.

State Commissioners will begin presenting their departments’ FY 2022 budget proposals to Governor Lee next week. The Tennessee Department of Health budget will present their budget request Monday, November 9th at 10:45 AM CST and TennCare will present their budget request Tuesday, November 10th at 1:00 CST. The hearings will be live streamed via http://www.tn.gov/ and will be accessible for viewing at a later date. 

TPCA is advocating for several budget items:

While state revenues have recently come in slightly higher than expected, it is expected that the FY 22 budget will contain some reductions.

Negotiations over another round of COVID-19 legislation are on pause as Members of Congress wait on final election results. Talks are expected to resume once Congress to returns to Washington-the Senate is slated to resume business on November 9, while the House will return on November 16. At minimum, Congress will have to pass legislation to keep the government funded past the December 11 deadline.

The 340B Drug Pricing Program is a critical program for health center patients, ensuring that they can obtain medications at affordable prices. Recently, several threats to the program have emerged that endanger the intended purpose of the 340B program and health centers’ ability to provide care to their patients. NACHC, Primary Care Associations, and community health centers across the country are talking with Members of Congress and HRSA, urging action to stop these damaging provisions from going into effect.

The Readiness to Train Assessment Tool™ (RTAT™) is a survey instrument that allows health centers to assess their organization’s readiness to engage in health professions training programs.

Million Hearts® has recognized Chota Community Health Services as one of the 2020 Hypertension Control Champions. In their work, these Champions were able to achieve blood pressure control for at least 80% of their adult patients with hypertension.

Together, the 2020 Champions cared for more than 200,000 adults.