Community Health Center Vaccination Program Launching Next Week
The White House announced this week that community health centers will begin receiving direct shipments of COVID-19 vaccines in order to reach underserved communities.
According to the release, "the program will be phased in, with the first centers able to start ordering vaccines as early as the week of February 15. The initial phase will include at least one Community Health Center in each state, expanding to 250 centers in the coming weeks."
The program will eventually be open to all community health centers, and participating health centers must use the directly-shipped vaccines to immunize their existing patients. In a press release, the CEO of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) responded, “While our health centers are in the locations where need is greatest and we have a proven and trusted track record in reaching people most vulnerable, there is an urgent need for sustained resources, supplies, and predictability of vaccine doses to effectively plan and reach out to these special populations. A direct and consistent allocation of vaccine doses to health centers will certainly go a long way toward achieving equity.”
Read the press release from NACHC.
Governor Stitt Signs Open Meeting Act Amendment Emergency Extension Bill
On Wednesday, Governor Stitt signed SB 1031, which reinstates temporary amendments to the Open Meeting Act to allow public bodies to hold fully virtual meetings. Community health center boards are currently considered public bodies for the purpose of Oklahoma's Open Meeting Act. The bill permits fully virtual meetings until Feb. 15, 2022, or until 30 days after the governor's COVID-19 state of emergency ends, whichever comes first. It requires that any documents or other materials provided to members of the public body or shared electronically between members of the public body during a meeting are made immediately available on the organization's website. It specifies that public notices including an option for videoconferences may not later modify the method of meeting described in the notice It also requires that a code or password be included in the public notice if a code or password is required to access the videoconference meeting. Read the bill.
Provider Groups Challenge OK Managed Care Plan
The Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA), the Oklahoma Dental Association, the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association, the Oklahoma Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Oklahoma Chapter of the Academy of Pediatrics have filed a lawsuit in the Oklahoma Supreme Court seeking an injunction to prevent the state from moving forward with a managed care plan for the state's Medicaid program. Read more.
U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee Releases Draft Including Health Center Funding
The budget reconciliation bill passed last week by Congress last week directed committees to report back with legislation matching the bill's budget targets. The committee draft includes $7.6 billion for community health centers as well as $800 million for the National Health Service Corps. There is also a significant funding boost for Teaching Health Centers, financial incentives for the 12 remaining states to expand Medicaid, and a provision that could expand health centers’ 340B savings on Medicaid drugs.