CMS released new guidance for its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers, including updated compliance deadlines of January 27, 2022 and February 28, 2022.

By January 27, 2022, facilities must have:

By January 27, CMS surveyors will begin surveying for compliance.

By February 28, 2022, facilities must have:

By March 30, 2022, facilities failing to maintain compliance with the 100% standard may be subject to enforcement action.

The Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) vaccine mandates on January 7. The Supreme Court decision will be temporary and address whether the mandates should stay in effect while there is legal action in lower courts.

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 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.

NACHC's 2022 Policy and Issue (P&I) Forum in Washington, D.C. is scheduled for Monday, February 14 - Thursday February 17, 2022 with the Hill Day on Wednesday, February 16, 2022.

The Policy & Issues Forum will be a hybrid event, with in-person and virtual options.

HHS released an Interim Final Rule to implement portions of a surprise billing proposal that was passed in legislation during December of 2020.

The "Good Faith Estimate" (GFE) rules go into effect on January 1, 2022 and requires health centers, and most other health care providers, to provide all uninsured and self-pay patients with a Good Faith Estimate of their out-of-pocket costs if the individual schedules the service at least 3 business days in advance, or otherwise requests information about charges.

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and Nurse Corps program have received a historic level of funding for FY 2022 and are expected to be able to provide loan repayment to significantly more clinicians than ever before. It is likely that every CHC will be eligible to have its providers funded under the NHSC Loan Repayment program this year, regardless of HPSA score.

January 13, 2022 is the deadline for clinicians to apply for loan repayment through the Nurse Corps.

February 3, 2022 is the deadline for clinicians to apply through the National Health Service Corps.

The $2 trillion Build Back Better Act (BBB) reconciliation bill has yet to come up for a vote in the Senate, despite Sen Majority Leader Schumer’s efforts to vote on the bill prior to the Christmas holiday. It appears increasingly unlikely the bill will pass before the end of the year, and it is not clear when the bill will be considered in 2022. The House already passed the sweeping package which includes funding for to address climate change, health care, childcare, and paid family leave.

Please consider reaching out to your Members of the House and asking them to support H.R. the PROTECT 340B Act of 2021.

Need a refresher on 340B? Check out the TPCA Policy Blog!

HRSA’s Office of Rural Health Policy recently released a Notice of Funding Opportunity for 50 grants of roughly $1 million each available to providers in underserved rural areas to enhance prevention and treatment of Substance Use Disorder. Community health centers are eligible to apply, provided they are part of an established network that includes at least three other separately-owned entities.