How Will You Celebrate Safety Net Clinic Week?

The fifth annual Safety Net Clinic Week is quickly approaching! Safety Net Clinic Week (SNCW), co-sponosored by CRHC and ClinicNET, will be held August 18th through the 22nd. It is dedicated to celebrating Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Community Safety Net Clinics (CSNCs). In an effort to celebrate, support and raise awareness for Colorado's healthcare safety net, we encourage your clinic to participate in this important week devoted to educating the public, policymakers and other community leaders about Colorado's RHCs and CSNCs. 

We have created a toolkit to help clinics participate in SNCW 2014. We encourage you to use the resources below to have the most successful advocacy week as possible. In addition, a webinar is available to CRHC members on August 6th at 12:00 PM to provide more information on SNCW and the resources available to clinics to celebrate. 

The toolkit links can be found below, and click here to register for the webinar.  

Short Overview of SNCW
SNCW 2014 Logo
Governmental Proclamation or Resolution
SNCW Invitation Template
SNCW Fact Sheet
SNCW Press Release
List of All RHCs and CSNCs

NBC Political Director Says Rural/Urban Divide “Stark”

NBC political director and chief White House correspondent, Chuck Todd, declared the “Rural-Urban political divide is as stark as it has ever been.” Speaking to a Washington, D.C. news radio station Monday, Todd said today’s divided nation is no longer “red state verses blue state, it’s rural verses urban.” He added that many of the politically divisive issues such as gun control and abortion stem from rural and urban differences that are “cultural.” Chuck Todd has been invited to speak during the National Rural Health Association's 24th annual Rural Health Policy Institute next month. Join other Coloradans in DC to continue the discussions about rural health and meet with Colorado's elected officials. Click here for more details on the Policy Institute. You can listen to Chuck Todd’s full interview here.

Don’t Miss This Important Meeting Hosted by HCPF to Discuss Distribution of Savings to RHCs, FQHCs, BHOs and RCCOs

The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing is beginning a series of ongoing discussions bringing together the Regional Care Collaborative Organizations (RCCOs), the Primary Care Medical Providers (including FQHCs and RHCs), and the Behavioral Health Organizations (BHOs), with HCPF acting as a mediator, to discuss an equitable distribution of savings for these parties. The first of these discussions will be held at the next Accountable Care Collaborative (ACC) Payment Reform Subcommittee meeting tomorrow, December 14th from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM in the 1st floor conference room at 225 E. 16th Avenue. The agenda can be found here, and the call in information can be found below.

Call-in information:
Toll: 1-720-279-0026
Toll free: 1-877-820-7831
Passcode: 610450#
Mute/unmute: *6

NRHA's Rural Health Policy Institute

With health reform, the fiscal cliff and a new Congress set to decide the future of healthcare, change is coming to rural America. NRHA's Rural Health Policy Institute is a great opportunity for you to educate your elected officials, advocate for your facilities and continue the fight to protect rural healthcare. The Colorado Rural Health Center is the state contact for NRHA's 24th Rural Health Policy Institute, so come with CRHC staff as we learn more about rural health policy and visit our elected officials on the hill!

Policy Update from NOSORH

"Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy year!" Bill Finerfrock said during his "Exploring Rural Health Policy Issues" webinar on Nov. 13th. The NOSORH-sponsored webinar was one of the daily webinars offered during the week-long celebration of National Rural Health Day 2012.

At the center of the presentation was a "Washington Update," where Finerfrock gave a run-down on coming changes in House Committee memberships including Ways and Means, and Appropriations, and possible changes in Cabinet-level posts including Defense, State, Justice and Treasury. Finerfrock said that issues that were left unresolved prior to Congressional Adjournment include Bush Tax Cuts, Payroll Tax Cuts, the SGR "fix" (sustainable growth rate fix for Medicare), and Sequestration, which, combined, form what the press is calling the "fiscal cliff." Finerfrock said he thinks Congress will do something to avoid the fiscal cliff. However, if they don’t, the consequences would include a 26.5 percent cut in physician fee schedules, which would have an adverse effect on rural health clinics. Sequestration would also cause a 7- 8 percent annual cut in affected non-defense programs. At this point, he said, there is nothing to do but wait and see. The NOSORH-sponsored webinar was one of the daily webinars offered during the week-long celebration of National Rural Health Day 2012.

For a viewable recording of Finerfrock’s full webinar, click here; for a copy of Finerfrock’s presentation during the webinar, click here.

Source: The Branch: An Update for State Offices of Rural Health and our Partners. December 2012. NOSORH.