NCUIH Newsletter | October 21, 2019
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NCUIH Youth Council Indigi-Wellness Champion Campaign Winners, Campaign Held in Conjunction with Hope for Life Day
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Members of NCUIH’s National Inaugural Youth Council (YC) and the 2019 YC participated in the Annual National American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Hope for Life (Suicide Prevention Awareness) Day, and also completed their National Indigi-Wellness Champion Campaign on September 30th. The Indigi-Wellness Champion Campaign launched the week of American Indian/Alaska Native Hope for Life Day. The Youth Council's participation in the Hope for Life social media campaign received a total of 102 likes and their posts were shared 17 different times across Facebook and Instagram platforms.
Below are some of the amazing posts from selected winners of the Youth Council’s National Social Media Campaign.
Learn more about NCUIH’s Youth Council’s Hope for Life Day social media posts and the successes of their Indigi-Wellness Champion Campaign.
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Arizona PBS Article featuring Faith Bowman of the NCUIH Youth Council "Breaking the silence: Native Americans overcome taboos in battle against suicide"
The campaign was also highlighted by Arizona PBS, which featured councilmember, Faith Bowman speaking on the campaign significance.
For Suicide Prevention Awareness Month in September, the National Council of Urban Indian Health’s Youth Advisory Council launched a social media campaign called Indigi-Wellness Champion. The effort encouraged youth to post pictures of “how they stay resilient in their everyday lives, how they’re using their culture as prevention, how they are becoming this champion of wellness by caring for both themselves and for others,” said youth council member Faith Bowman, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Nation in Wisconsin.
The campaign used two hashtags to prompt conversation on social media: #ThisIsNative and #CultureIsPrevention. The first aimed to showcase what it means to be Native by highlighting the unique cultural aspects of participants’ lives; the second was used to share culturally tailored suicide prevention tools.
“Our mission and vision is centered upon providing accessible resources to American Indian and Alaska Native youth, and we really wanted to empower them in every way … culturally, spiritually, physically, mentally,” Bowman said.
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IHS Initiates Urban Confer on the FY 2021 Distribution of SDPI Funds
Last On October 2, the Indian Health Service (IHS) published a Dear Urban Indian Organization Leader Letter (DULL) to initiate Urban Confer on the distribution of funding for the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SDPI) in FY 2021. The current authorization will expire on November 21, 2019, after a partial extension under the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019 (H.R. 4378). Although it is not yet known if or when Congress will address the full reauthorization of SDPI, IHS is initiating confer now to ensure UIO leaders have the opportunity to provide comments.
IHS seeks comments on all issues related to SDPI and also provides the follow two questions on which it seeks comments:
- If SDPI is funded at $150M, should there be changes in the funding distribution? If so, what changes should be made?
- If the SDPI receives an increase in funding above the current $150M, how should those funds be utilized?
Comments can be submitted to urbanconfer@ihs.gov by Monday, December 2, 2019.
IHS enclosed a detailed SDPI FY 2019 budget, which you may view here.
NCUIH Contact: Julia Dreyer (jdreyer@ncuih.org)
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Tribal Consultation on NIH All of Us Program
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Tribal Consultation on the All of Us Research Program will close November 30, 2019. After the completion of Tribal Consultation, All of Us will
publish a report summarizing the comments and concerns the program has received and outlining initial plans for addressing the issues raised by Tribal leaders.
Through Consultation, NIH and the All of Us Program seeks to respectfully engage with Tribal Nations to develop meaningful, culturally appropriate collaborations with AI/AN populations.
The goal of this Tribal Consultation is to provide an opportunity for Tribal and Urban Indian organization leadership to have meaningful input, to implement the appropriate protections to comply with Tribal research oversight and laws, and to facilitate information exchange.
Input and comments are welcome at: AoUTribal@nih.gov.
NCUIH Contact: Julia Dreyer (jdreyer@ncuih.org) |
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SAMHSA Issues Sober Living Homes Guidance
On October 8, 2019, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released guidelines for sober living homes as required by last year's sweeping opioid response legislation, Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act. The guidelines outline best practices for the sober living home field, which is now subject to a patchwork of state oversight standards. A bipartisan group of lawmakers last week raised concerns over the forthcoming guidance in a letter to the agency, saying it was too clinically focused. A draft version advised that all people entering a sober living home be screened for comorbid disorders like depression and anxiety to get a sense of how likely they are to relapse. The lawmakers said many recovery homes lack the resources to comply and asked the agency to modify it. SAMHSA appeared to listen, instructing only existing clinically-oriented recovery house programs to assess prospective residents. That guidance would not apply to recovery homes that don't include a clinical focus.
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CMS Request for Information for the Development of a CMS Action Plan to Prevent Opioid Addiction and Enhance Access to Medication-Assisted Treatment
In September, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Request for Information (RFI) required by the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT Act) seeking public comment on ways to address the treatment of acute and chronic pain, and the treatment of substance use disorders..CMS is developing an Action Plan, which will include a review of Medicare and Medicaid payment and coverage policies for substance use disorders, and the treatment of acute and chronic pain, emphasizing treatment that minimizes the risk of opioid misuse. The RFI also requests comment on associated topics including data collection, special populations, and technologies and telehealth. The Action Plan builds on the “CMS Roadmap: Fighting the Opioid Crisis,” which outlines the
Agency’s approach to preventing opioid use disorder (OUD) and managing pain using a safe and effective range of options that rely less on prescription opioids, expanding access to treatment for OUD, and using data to target prevention efforts and identify fraud and abuse.
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Executive Order on Protecting and Improving Medicare for Our Nation's Seniors
On October 3, 2019, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) in response to “Medicare for All” legislation introduced in the Senate. Claiming to protect Medicare by strengthening Medicare beneficiaries' options for care, which the administration feels will be undermined if "Medicare for All", a progressive health policy proposal, takes off. Currently there are two types of Medicare models: a fee-for-service Medicare (traditional Medicare) that is administered by the federal government, and Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Part C, a managed care version of the federal health insurance program that is administered by private insurers. The Trump administration states that Medicare Advantage "delivers efficient and value-based care through choice and private competition". This EO includes directives for the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to propose a regulation and implement administrative actions to provide more plan choices to seniors. The Secretary is also required to identify and remove unnecessary barriers to private contracts that allow Medicare beneficiaries to obtain the care of their choice and facilitate the development of market-driven prices and issue a report that identifies approaches to modify Medicare FFS payments to more closely reflect the prices paid for services in MA and the commercial insurance market. President Trump previously issued a related EO in 2017, EO 13813, entitled, "Reforming America's Healthcare System Through Choice and Competition".
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Trump Administration Aims to Ease Anti-Kickback Rules for Doctors and Hospitals
Supported by the medical field, Health and Human Services Secretary Azar proposes highly technical updates to two longstanding statutes banning physicians from referring patients for other medical services if it would financially benefit them. The proposed updates to the 1990’s federal “Stark” law and the “Anti-Kickback” statute, developed for a medical system that has changed, will lessen regulations on doctors and hospitals. “Our goal here is for patients to have a sense of ease in health care, where they know providers have the right incentive to move them through the system,” Azar said. Efforts to modernize and clarify the fraud and abuse laws began last year as part of the Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care Initiative. Agency officials have emphasized the need to reform the physician self-referral law and Anti – Kickback Statute to facilitate innovative arrangements for coordinating care consistent with a shift to a value-based health care system. |
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Upcoming Events Highlights
- Webinar: Financial Focus: Insights into Accounts Receivable & Denial Management (October 21, 2019)
- Webinars: IHS FY 2022 Tribal Budget Formulation and Area Instructions (October 21, 2019 and November 13, 2019)
- Webinar: American Indian Cancer Foundation - Liver Cancer in Indian Country (October 23, 2019)
- Training: CMS – ITU Training Event (October 29-30, 2019 in Phoenix, AZ)
- Training: Substance Use Disorder ECHO Training for DATA Waiver (November 6, 2019 in Seattle, WA)
- Webinar - National Council for Behavioral Health - "Financial Focus: Eligibility, Authorization & Credentialing Best Practices" (November 18, 2019)
- Save the Date - NCUIH and IHS Listening Session: Eliminating Hepatitis C and HIV in Indian Country: A Focus on Urban Indian Health (December 10, 2019)
- Webinars: IHS FY 2022 Tribal Budget Formulation and Area Reports (January 29 and January 30, 2020)
- FY 2022 National Tribal Budget Work Session (February 13-14, 2020 in Crystal City, VA)
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Webinar: Financial Focus: Insights into Accounts Receivable & Denial Management
Denied claims and aging accounts receivable (A/R) – they’re some of the most common problems plaguing behavioral health organizations today. So, how do we get around them? During this free webinar, we’ll teach you how to decrease denials and shorten A/R days in your organization, leading to improved efficiencies and increased success.
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Webinars: IHS FY 2022 Tribal Budget Formulation and Area Instructions
The Indian Health Service (IHS) announced 3 webinars that cover the same information on the Tribal Budget Consultation Process and Area Instructions Presentation. The budget formulation and consultation process informs the annual budget request of IHS. Priorities identified during the consultation process are instrumental in creating the annual IHS budget justifications.
Webinar Information for the Next Session
View slides for the webinars.
Questions can be submitted via e-mail to IHSHQBudgetformulation@ihs.gov.
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Webinar: American Indian Cancer Foundation - Liver Cancer in Indian Country
The American Indian Cancer Foundation (AICAF) is celebrating Liver Cancer Awareness Month this October by hosting a live webinar! Their team invites you to join them from 1-2 PM CST on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 for Liver Cancer in Indian Country. This webinar will be presented by Dr. Mary Owen (Tlingit). Register below.
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Training: CMS – ITU Training Event
An ITU training will be held by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities, Tribal Health Programs, and Urban Indian Programs maximize their ability to access third party resources. This two day training in Phoenix will be most helpful for benefits coordinators and patient registration, medical records, contract health services and business office staff.
The Agenda includes topics specific to Medicaid and CHIP in Nevada and Utah, Arizona State Medicaid policies and procedures, and can answer questions on fraud and compliance, purchased and referred care, marketplace plans, and more.
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Training: Substance Use Disorder ECHO Training for DATA Waiver
The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board will be holding a Substance Use Disorder ECHO Training on November 6th in Seattle, Washington. The training will be put on by Project ECHO, at no cost to you. This is a wonderful opportunity if you or your providers are interested in obtaining a DATA Waiver, as well as connecting with their staff and Substance Use Disorder subject matter experts in person.
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Webinar - National Council for Behavioral Health - "Financial Focus: Eligibility, Authorization & Credentialing Best Practices"
The National Council for Behavioral Health (The Council) will host a 50 minute webinar on 'Eligibility, Authorization & Credentialing Best Practices', to conclude a 2 part series on Financial Focus on November 18th at 3pm ET. In this webinar, the Council will share five ways you can immediately maximize reimbursement in your organization, while teaching your staff how to become more efficient, effective and improved billers, resulting in increased net collections in the continuously changing ecosystem of behavioral health billing.
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Save the Date - NCUIH and IHS Listening Session: Eliminating Hepatitis C and HIV in Indian Country: A Focus on Urban Indian Health
The National Council of Urban Indian Health will provide a forum and a platform for the Urban Indian Health Programs across the United States to express their community’s circumstances, needs, perspective and interests before the Indian Health Service corresponding officials diligently working to support the Eliminating Hepatitis C and HIV in Indian Country Initiative.
Contact Kimberly Fowler (kfowler@ncuih.org) or Julia Dreyer (jdreyer@ncuih.org) with questions.
Exact location in Washington, DC TBA
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Webinars: IHS FY 2022 Tribal Budget Formulation and Area Reports
There will be 2 webinars for Tribal Representatives to present a longer version of their Area Reports before the National Tribal Budget Work session. Each Area will have 15 minutes to present, with 6 areas presenting at each Webinar. Those sessions will occur at the following times:
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Questions can be submitted via e-mail to IHSHQBudgetformulation@ihs.gov.
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FY 2022 National Tribal Budget Work Session
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Technical Assistance & Research Highlights
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Resource: NCUIH Webinar Video: Introduction to Urban Environmental Health and Community Partnerships
Thank you for all who attended the inaugural webinar in NCUIH’s new webinar series “Intersections of Urban Indian Health and Environmental Health: Data, Programming, and Partnerships". The recorded webinar is now available, and more information on this series and topic can be found on our website.
Contact Andrew Kalweit (akalweit@ncuih.org) with questions.
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Program Spotlight: Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake Hosted its Annual Health Fair
The Urban Indian Center of Salt Lake celebrated its Annual Health Fair on October 3, 2019, in cooperation with the South Hills Drum Group, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant Students, Moran Eye Center and other area agencies. Participants received immunizations, mammograms, retinal exams, lab work, foot exams and more. Families sampled quick and healthy foods, participated in Pow Wow Dancing, and got their groove on with Soul Train (and “Celebrity Guest Native Simmons”). Approximately 100 community members attended.
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Program Spotlight: Missoula Urban Indian Health Center Receives Grant to Combat Sex Trafficking
The Missoula Urban Indian Health Center, a Title V Urban Indian Organization in Montana, has been awarded a three-year grant totaling $450,000 by the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs to combat human sex trafficking in Missoula County. These grant funds will enable the center to develop critical case management services, educate the Missoula community and key resource providers to develop a response to incidents, increase the quality and breadth of available services and create a sustainable safety net of support services for survivors.
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Program Spotlight: Oklahoma City Indian Center (OKCIC) Recognized by Human Rights Campaign as an “LGBTQ Healthcare Equality Leader”
Congratulations to Oklahoma City Indian Center (OKCIC) on their recent designation as an “LGBTQ Health Care Equality Leader” by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), based on a maximum score in the 2019 Health Equality Index (HEI)!
This perfect score indicates full implementation of policies regarding non-discrimination and staff training, patient services and support, employee benefits and policies, and patient and community engagement. More detail on inclusive policies can be found here.
Non-profit community-based clinic organizations such as FQHCs and FQHC look-alikes are eligible to participate in the HEI, receive a special logo and toolkit of resources, and can request to participate in future years here. |
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Campaign: National Check Your Meds Day (October 21)
On National Check Your Meds Day ask your provider to evaluate the medication lists of older patients taking more than 4 or 5 medications. Polypharmacy is variably defined as taking four or five (or more) prescription drugs. Almost 50% of adults age 65 or older take five or more prescription drugs. Polypharmacy is more prevalent among whites than among minority groups. It is often related to receiving care from multiple clinicians. In addition, polypharmacy is more common among women than men, and in the southern US. The National Community Pharmacists Association prompts consumers to bring their prescriptions to their local pharmacists for review on National Check Your Meds Day.
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Call for Applications: Training: National Council for Behavioral Health - Behavioral Health Training Institute for Health Officials
The National Council for Behavioral Health has opened its new cohort RFA for their Behavioral Health Training Institute for Health Officials program (Institute). The Institute is an 8 month leadership training program aimed to assist public health officials as they develop behavioral health competencies needed to advance comprehensive efforts in the communities they serve, especially re: primay and behavioral health integration. Participation is free and includes coverage to the NatCon20 conference, one in-person meeting, coaching sessions, webinars, and peer-to-peer engagement. Tribal health officials at UIOs are eligible to apply.
- Deadline: November 6, 2019
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Call for Abstracts and Sessions: Preventive Medicine 2020
The American College of Preventive Medicine invites you to submit a proposal for an educational session and/or scientific abstract for Preventive Medicine 2020 to be held May 14 – 17, 2020 in Denver, Colorado at the Grand Hyatt Denver.
In order to submit your proposal, you will need:
- Presentation Title
- Presentation Description (up to 300 words)
- Presentation outline and interaction plan
- Contact information for all speakers (name, credentials, title, organization, address, email, phone, fax)
- Speaker bio(s) (500 words or less)
Additional information is available for:
Session Track Descriptions
Call for Abstracts
Call for Sessions
- Deadline: November 8, 2019
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Funding: Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University
The Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Minority Health Policy at Harvard University (CFF) is pleased to announce their call for applications for the 2020-2021 year. At the Harvard Medical School, Boston, applications are now being accepted for a one-year, degree-granting, full-time fellowship beginning July 2020.
The CFF Fellowship prepares physicians, particularly physicians from groups underrepresented in medicine, to become leaders who improve the health of disadvantaged and vulnerable populations through transforming healthcare delivery systems and promoting innovation in policies, practices and programs that address health equity and the social determinants of health.
Applications deadline is 5:00 pm Eastern Time on December 2, 2019. All applications materials must be submitted in the online application system by the deadline.
- Deadline: December 2, 2019
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Medicare Open Enrollment: October 15 to December 7
Medicare’s Open Enrollment Period is now. From October 15 to December 7, you can enroll in health and drug plans for 2020. There is a lot of new information for this Medicare Open Enrollment Period that can be viewed on CMS' Get ready for Medicare’s Open Enrollment” blog.
Beneficiaries can start looking at new 2020 health & prescription plans online now with the new and improved Medicare Plan Finder tool.
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New Funding: SAMHSA - Native Connections
SAMHSA is accepting applications for the Tribal Behavioral Health Grant Program (i.e. Native Connections). The purpose of this program is to prevent suicide and substance misuse, reduce the impact of trauma, and promote mental health among American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth through the age of 24 years. Eligibility is limited to federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes, tribal organizations, Urban Indian Organizations, or consortia of tribes or tribal organizations. Up to $250,000/yr is anticipated for 39 awardees over 5 years.
- Deadline: December 10, 2019
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New Funding: SAMHSA - Promoting Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health Care (PIPBHC) Grants
SAMHSA is accepting applications for Promoting Integration of Primary and Behavioral Health Care (PIPBHC) grants. The purpose of this program is to:
- Promote full integration and collaboration in clinical practice between primary and behavioral healthcare.
- Support the improvement of integrated care models for primary care and behavioral health care to improve the overall wellness and physical health status of adults with a serious mental illness (SMI) or children with a serious emotional disturbance (SED).
- Promote and offer integrated care services related to screening, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of mental and substance use disorders, and co-occurring physical health conditions and chronic diseases.
SAMHSA plans to issue 4 grants of up to $2,000,000 per year for up to 5 years.
- Deadline: December 10, 2019
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New Funding: SAMHSA - Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) recently released a new funding called 'Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals' (GBHI). The purpose of this tribal program is to support the development and/or expansion of local implementation of a community infrastructure that integrates substance use disorder treatment, housing services and other critical services for individuals (including youth) and families experiencing homelessness. Up to 13 awards at $400,000 per year for 5 years are expected to be awarded. Federally recognized American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes, tribal organizations, Urban Indian Organizations (UIO), and consortia of tribes or tribal organizations are eligible. The deadline to apply is December 16, 2019.
- Deadline: December 16, 2019
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