February 3 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is announcing the availability of $19.2 million in American Rescue Plan funding to support and expand community-based primary care residency programs. Awardees will use this funding to train residents to provide quality care to diverse populations and communities, particularly in underserved and rural areas. 

“The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to expanding the pipeline of health care providers in areas that have been hit hard by the pandemic and are experiencing physician shortages,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “This funding provides our primary care workforce with opportunities to train in areas where they can make a profound impact, and is one of the many steps we’re taking to address long-standing health disparities.”

Read the press release.

HRSA continues to improve health outcomes in underserved communities, promote health equity, and support the health workforce. Some of the actions we took include:

• $103 million in American Rescue Plan funding awarded to 45 grantees to improve the retention of health care workers and help respond to the nation’s critical staffing needs by reducing burnout and promoting mental health and wellness among the health care workforce.
• More than $2 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more than 7,600 providers across the country.
• Updating the comprehensive preventive care and screening guidelines for women and for infants, children, and adolescents that, under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), certain group health plans and insurance issuers must cover with no out-of-pocket cost.

Read the full list of actions.

With this funding, more than $18 billion will have been distributed from the Provider Relief Fund and the American Rescue Plan Rural provider funding in the last three months. 

January 25 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is making more than $2 billion in Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 General Distribution payments to more than 7,600 providers across the country this week. These payments come on the heels of the nearly $9 billion in funding that was already released by HHS in December 2021. With today’s announcement, a total of nearly $11 billion in PRF Phase 4 payments has now been distributed to more than 74,000 providers in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and five territories. This is in addition to HRSA’s distribution of American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments totaling nearly $7.5 billion in funding to more than 43,000 providers in December 2021.

Read the press release.

January 20 - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), today announced $103 million in awards to improve the retention of health care workers and help respond to the nation’s critical staffing needs by reducing burnout and promoting mental health and wellness among the health care workforce. These awards will fund evidence-informed programs, practices and training, with a specific focus on providers in underserved and rural communities. The funds, secured through the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Rescue Plan, will be disbursed to 45 grantees.

“I have traveled to many health centers across the country and know that the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified issues that have long been a source of stress for frontline health care workers — from increased patient volumes to long working hours,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “This funding reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring we have enough critical frontline workers by supporting health care providers now and beyond as they face burnout and mental health challenges. We will continue to promote the well-being of those who have made so many sacrifices to keep others well.”

Read the press release.

The Biden-Harris Administration is working to distribute critical COVID-19 resources to HRSA-supported health centers and Medicare-certified Rural Health Clinics across the country. Building on the success of the HRSA Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program, HRSA recently added programs to increase access to COVID-19 testing supplies, therapeutics, and N95 masks – ensuring equitable access to tools that can mitigate the spread and impact of COVID-19.

Learn more:

• HRSA Health Center COVID-19 N95 Mask Program
• HRSA Health Center COVID-19 Therapeutics Program
• HRSA COVID-19 Testing Supply Program
• HRSA Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program

On Monday, February 7, our HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) will observe National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, an opportunity to increase HIV awareness, education, testing, community engagement, and treatment in Black communities across the country.

Our Ryan White National HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) provides HIV primary medical care, medication, and essential support service for more than half a million people with HIV—approximately half of all people with diagnosed HIV in the United States. In 2020, nearly three-quarters of the more than half a million clients served by the RWHAP were from racial/ethnic minority populations, with more than 46 percent of clients identifying as Black/African American. A record-high 86.7% of Black/African American clients receiving care through the RWHAP were virally suppressed in 2020.

The RWHAP continues to focus efforts on key populations that are disproportionately affected by HIV, including Blacks/African Americans, especially among young Black/African American men who have sex with men, and young Black women. The goal is to ensure individuals in these key populations are getting tested for HIV, and getting access to necessary care, treatment, and medication if they test positive for HIV.

Learn more about the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.

Join us Wednesday, February 9, from 2-3 p.m. ET where we’ll focus on enabling dental therapy practice to improve access to oral health services.

Listen in on a robust conversation ranging from origins of the workplace to training and practice to legislation and standardization.

Register.

Join our Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs Region 1 on Tuesday, February 8 at 12 p.m. ET for a webinar on telehealth and the impact of Community Health Workers. Presenters will describe:

• Unique challenges rural communities face in accessing specialty care and comprehensive services
• The role of Community Health Workers in rural communities and how they can help navigate health-related social needs and resources to support chronic care management and behavioral health interventions
• Lessons learned in implementing and sustaining Community Health Worker programs

Register.

Our Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs is hosting a Spanish learning series on Advancing Health Equity among Hispanic/Latino Populations.

The next webinar on Wednesday, February 16 at 1 p.m. ET will focus on digital health literacy resources and best practices. The webinar will be broadcast in Spanish with live language interpretation to English. 

Presenters from Jefferson Health New Jersey, Community Health Center Inc., and the Connecticut River Valley Farmworker Health Program will:

• Explain the importance of digital health literacy, digital equity, and telehealth in improving access to care in underserved communities
• Describe barriers to digital health literacy in Hispanic/Latino communities
• Identify best practices and resources to advance digital health literacy

Register.

States now have an unprecedented opportunity to enhance and modernize their behavioral health crisis systems by leveraging new Medicaid funding options.

The COVID-19 crisis, coupled with skyrocketing overdose deaths and suicide risk, has put state crisis systems in the spotlight as never before. The roll out of a national 988 call number for behavioral health crisis will bring further attention and traffic. Leveraging Medicaid funding can help states build out sustainable crisis systems that can respond to growing challenges.

To learn more, read the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) blog. 

HRSA’s National Organizations of State and Local Officials Cooperative Agreement provided support for the NASHP resource.