New Medicare Card Webinar with Updated Material

February 26, 2018

New Medicare Card Webinar with Updated Material  (Rescheduled from February 21, 2018) February 28, 2018  2:00 PM CST – 3:00 PM CST  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Kansas City Regional Office invites you to attend a New Medicare Card Webinar. Recent legislation requires CMS to remove Social Security Numbers from all Medicare cards to address the current risk of beneficiary medical identity theft, and to replace the cards with a unique number for each Medicare beneficiary. This webinar will address the new card design, the timeframe of the mailings and scenarios, what Medicare beneficiaries should do to ensure they receive their new card, and partner resources to help with education.

The goal of this free webinar is to educate those who serve people with Medicare and their caregivers so they can be a valuable resource on this initiative. Please share this invite with your partners.

CMS will host separate webinars and informational sessions for people with Medicare and their caregivers.

You can register for the webinar at  https://newmedicarecard022118.eventbrite.com

You will receive a confirmation email from Eventbrite after completing your registration which will include the login information for the webinar.  If you don’t receive the confirmation email or have any questions or have difficulty registering, please contact Lorelei.Schieferdecker@cms.hhs.gov

Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

February 21, 2018

What’s New

Best Practices for Medication-Assisted Treatment.  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published clinical guidance explaining use of the three medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorders:  methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine.  Called Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 63, the guidance is part of a public health strategy to increase access to medications treating opioid use disorder.  In a measure specifically aimed at increasing drug treatment in rural areas, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced last month that now, in addition to physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants could get the Drug Abuse Treatment Act waiver required to prescribe buprenorphine.

Funding Opportunities

Rural Communities Healthy Out-of-School Time – March 16.  The National Recreation and Park Association will make ten awards of $35,000 each to help rural agencies in Colorado, Kansas and Mississippi promote healthy eating and physical activity for school-aged children.  Eligible applicants include tribal agencies for community/recreation services.  All applicants must serve meals during out-of-school times through specified programs of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.

Rural Health  Research

Rural Communities Healthy Out-of-School Time – March 16.  The National Recreation and Park Association will make ten awards of $35,000 each to help rural agencies in Colorado, Kansas and Mississippi promote healthy eating and physical activity for school-aged children.  Eligible applicants include tribal agencies for community/recreation services.  All applicants must serve meals during out-of-school times through specified programs of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.

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Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

February 14, 2018

What’s New

New Federal Poverty Guidelines. The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) recently published the 2018 federal poverty guidelines to be used in determining eligibility in income-based federal programs, including several that may affect the health and welfare of rural communities such as the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicare subsidized prescription drug coverage.  The Guidelines went into effect on January 13, 2018.

Funding Opportunities

Grants to Support Health Insurance Markets in States – February 26. Through this grant program, CMS will provide funding to States for planning and implementing health insurance market reforms and consumer protections.  State Offices of Rural Health and other rural advocates may be interested in the recommended areas of focus for the grant, which include development of tools to identify discriminatory practices and investigation of ways to improve access to coverage in underserved areas.   Applications are due on Thursday, April 5th, but a mandatory letter of intent to apply is due on Monday, February 26th.

Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants – April 23.  The U.S. Department of Justice will make up to five awards of approximately $100,000 each to build capacity for research and evaluation projects on criminal justice in Indian Country and Alaska Native Villages.  Award recipients will be expected to submit a final research project that can help inform criminal justice partnerships with Tribal communities in the future.

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