TPCA is excited to announce our newest colleague, Rebecca Woods! Rebecca, who most recently served in government affairs at TN Medical Association, joins us as our new Health Policy Director.

Looking to get in touch with a TPCA staff member? Visit us at at TNPCA.org!

The Tennessee Department of Health has updated Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan, and Tennesseans in Phase 1c of the state’s plan are now eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccination.

Phase 1c of the state’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan includes Tennesseans age 16 and older with high-risk health conditions including pregnancy, and parents and caregivers of medically fragile children and those with complex congenital heart disease. Tennessee’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan has been updated to include the following groups among the Phase 1c populations:

TDH has launched a new online scheduling tool that allows users to book their appointment for COVID-19 vaccination at participating health department sites when they are eligible to do so. Tennesseans can access the system at covid19.tn.gov and select their county to schedule an

appointment. Users will enter their demographic information and will then be able to choose a date and time for their vaccination appointment. Tennesseans who have already registered for a COVID-19 vaccination do not need to re-enter their information in the new system.

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 vaccines, updates, human resources & operations, telehealth, and PPE.

TPCA Members may also access the COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit for the latest in TN COVID-19 Vaccine distribution as well as timely and relevant resources.

Join the TN Department of Health for a weekly open Q&A webinar hour for health care professionals to ask questions about the Tennessee COVID-19 vaccine allocation and distribution plan and COVID-19 vaccines.

TDH provider calls occur every Friday.

Read how Cempa Community Care is working with community partners to bring the community information on vaccines.

Read how leaders, like those with Mercy Community Healthcare, are working to rein in waste without slowing down vaccinations.

This year brings the hope that life will return to normal, from being able to go back to the office and send children to school to being able to travel and socialize again. To ensure these activities are safe, enough people need to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

It is thought that we need 75 to 85% coverage by mid-year to reach a herd immunity level that would allow a sense of normalcy by the end of 2021. Read on to learn how multiple COVID-19 vaccines, different storage requirements, and social perception will add to the challenges of vaccine management this year. The good news is that there is a way for health practices to overcome these obstacles more easily.

Legislation to protect community health centers and other third parties from discriminatory reimbursement in the 340B drug pricing was introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly.

TPCA is supporting SB1205/HB1348, sponsored by Senator Briggs and Representative Helton, and SB1617/HB1398, sponsored by Senator Reeves and Representative Helton. Both pieces of legislation have been referred to their respective committees for consideration.

The ability of TennCare to share in savings under the state’s approved TennCare III block grant waiver is tied to quality metrics. Upon approval of the waiver by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in January, TennCare had 60 days to identify 10 quality metrics that followed CMS guidelines.

This week, TennCare announced the quality metric protocol, which include measures from Medicaid Adult, Child, and Maternity Core Sets, measures related to medical and surgical care, behavioral health, and preventive and acute care.

Thank you to all of the health center advocates who participated in TPCA’s virtual Advocacy Week from March 8-12!

Throughout the week, health centers met with state legislators to advocate for health center priorities and activated social media channels in advocacy. Community health centers promoted their work as key providers in the state’s COVID-19 response and advocated for funding to support care for uninsured patients, protections for the 340B drug pricing program, programs to support maternal health, and the expanded use of telehealth.

On Thursday, March 11, President Biden sign the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law. The package includes $7.6B in funding for community health centers along with funding for workforce programs including $800M for the National Health Service Corps, $200 for the Nurse Corps, and $330 million for the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program. The legislation also includes funding to implement a nationwide COVID-19 testing strategy, to increase the public health workforce, and to support COVID-19 vaccine administration and distribution.

As part of President Biden’s commitment to ensure the nation’s underserved communities and those disproportionately affected by COVID-19 are equitably vaccinated, this week the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is announcing that an additional 700 HRSA-supported health centers will be invited to join the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program. These health centers will have the opportunity to join the program over the next six weeks, increasing the total number of invited health center participants to 950.  

The additional 700 health centers invited to participate in the next phase of the program include those that serve high proportions of low-income and minority patients, provide services to rural or frontier populations, operate Tribal/Urban Indian Health Programs, and/or utilize mobile vans to deliver services.

The National Association of Community Health Centers will be holding the annual Policy & Issues Forum virtually this year from March 14-18. In lieu of the traditional day on the Hill in Washington, D.C., NACHC will be converting the event to virtual meetings with Members of Congress.

TPCA will arrange meetings with members of the TN Congressional Delegation throughout March. Please note, you do not have to register for the Policy and Issues Forum to participate in the virtual visits with Members of Congress.

At the end of February, Express Scripts, Inc. one of the largest Pharmacy Benefit Managers in the country announced that beginning on March 1, it would require pharmacies to inform Express Scripts., Inc. of prescriptions that are filled with a 340B priced drug within 10 days.

This new policy raises significant concerns about the impact on contract pharmacies and discriminatory reimbursement practices. The National Association of Community Health Centers is working closely with partners to address these recent developments.