Category: State and National News

LANSING–The State of Michigan has been awarded top marks for its efforts to eliminate hepatitis C by the national Hep ElimiNATION project.

The O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law at Georgetown Law, National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable (NVHR) and the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) at Harvard Law School have launched Hep ElimiNATION, a project to assess nationwide viral hepatitis elimination progress and to guide jurisdictions towards development of a comprehensive plan to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030. To measure each state’s progress, NVHR and CHLPI developed a grading rubric used to score each state’s capacity to eliminate viral hepatitis. Michigan was awarded grade letter “A” for advancements that have been made towards hepatitis C elimination.

“Receiving an ‘A’ is great news, and we continue to offer tools to providers that will help us in eliminating hepatitis C in Michigan,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) chief medical executive. “We offer complimentary hepatitis C consultation for providers interested in treating hepatitis C, and we continue to look at areas to improve treating and preventing this disease.”

MDHHS published Michigan’s State Plan on Eliminating Hepatitis C in April 2021 to articulate MDHHS’ data-driven, evidence-based and culturally competent approach to eliminate hepatitis C in Michigan. MDHHS launched its We Treat Hep C Initiative on April 1, to expand access to hepatitis C treatment among Michigan Medicaid and Healthy Michigan Plan beneficiaries by removing prior authorization requirements for the hepatitis C medication, MAVYRET®. Michigan is one of only six states not requiring prior authorization.

Through the We Treat Hep C Initiative, treatment with MAVYRET is available to all Medicaid ($1 copay) and Healthy Michigan Plan (no copay) beneficiaries at little to no cost. Other direct-acting antivirals ($3 copay) will require prior authorization and will be approved only when MAVYRET is not clinically appropriate.

MDHHS has developed a website with Provider Resources, which includes frequently asked questions about the We Treat Hep C Initiative and hepatitis C treatment, hepatitis C clinical consultation programs, training webinars and resources and reference guides.

To help connect people with hepatitis C to a hepatitis C treatment provider, MDHHS has developed a Hepatitis C Treatment Provider Map which includes a listing of providers with hepatitis C treatment experience. While the listing is not a complete list of all hepatitis C treatment providers in the state of Michigan, it serves as a valuable resource for individuals looking for hepatitis C testing or treatment.

Visit Michigan.gov/WeTreatHepC for more information on hepatitis C testing and treatment.

For any questions regarding hepatitis C, please contact the MDHHS Viral Hepatitis Unit at [email protected].

–MDHHS

GRAND RAPIDS—The Michigan Primary Care Association and its member community health centers were featured Wednesday in a story published by Bridge Michigan in the news organization’s Michigan Health Watch section. (Bridge photo courtesy Daytona Niles)

To read the feature story “Child COVID vaccines are available in Michigan. Now comes the hard part” penned by BridgeMI.com staff writers Robin Erb and Ron French, please click on the link below: The decision to vaccinate 7-year-old Brittish Conaway against COVID pivoted on Dr. Jenny Bush’s choice of words.

“When she gets sick,” the doctor explained to the girl’s mom, “her sugar levels plummet. And that’s where things like metabolic strokes happen.”

Brittish has complex health problems stemming from a genetic metabolic condition. Contracting COVID-19 would likely make those problems worse. Better to watch for mild side effects from the vaccine than chance life-threatening complications from COVID that could last a week or more, Bush advised.

READ MORE

LANSING–Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued a proclamation marking August 8-14 as National Health Center Week 2021.

“Community health centers are at the forefront of fighting emerging healthcare crises in our state, including the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Governor Whitmer. “Our community health centers have supported testing and treatment for COVID patients while continuing everyday operations through extraordinarily difficult circumstances. These centers provide affordable, comprehensive care to underserved communities across Michigan and our state is grateful for the hope and healing they provide to countless communities every day.”

”The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has continually challenged Michiganders in all facets of life,” said Dennis Litos, CEO of the Michigan Primary Care Association. “Our community health centers have done yeoman’s work in helping us navigate through COVID-19 by providing testing, vaccine administration and quality health care for all. The MPCA is very grateful for the leadership of Governor Whitmer and MDHHS in supporting our health centers and our citizens throughout the pandemic.”

Health Center Week offers the opportunity to celebrate Michigan’s health center organizations and all those responsible for their continued success and growth. Health centers are a critical element of the health system, serving both rural and urban communities, often providing the only accessible and dependable source of primary care in their communities.

Click on the link to view the proclamation. For more information on #NHCW21, please click here.

LANSING–The Michigan Primary Care Association and University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center are launching a learning collaborative to help health centers and patients catch-up on cancer screenings. The goal of the collaborative is to support peer-to-peer learning among health center teams to identify and share best practices to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on delivery of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screenings.

The MPCA value transformation team, including Candy Vertalka and Amy Zarr, will lead and organize collaborative activities. The collaborative will provide resources tailored to specific MPCA health centers including 1) an enhanced data dashboard to track catch-up in cancer screenings, 2) implementation toolkit to support evidence-based interventions, and 3) personalized support for practice change. By participating in this learning collaborative, health centers teams will support each other in implementation of specific strategies to increase cancer screenings and develop greater general capacity for practice change. Additional partners include the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (Cancer Control) and American Cancer Society.

“Health center teams have done a heroic job to continue delivery of high quality health care throughout the pandemic. Some impacts, like a decrease in cancer screening, were unavoidable,” said Amber Desgranges, MPCA’s Grant Program Officer. “It’s time to think about how to catch-up and this collaborative is a great way for our health center teams to learn from each other what really works.”

Save the Date for Thursday, Sept. 16, from Noon to 1 p.m. to hear more about the “Catch-Up on Cancer Screening” Learning Collaborative and how this can support your health center’s quality efforts.

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://mpca.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEldOCupjIpGtBMJ9vzcCFguRNXlrlexpw3

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

For questions, please contact:

Theresa Quaderer, M.A.
Integrated Health Program Manager
517.827.088 (Office)
[email protected]

or

Lawrence An, MD
Assistant Director for Cancer Prevention and Screening
UM Rogel Cancer Center
[email protected]

DETROIT–During her first visit to the state of Michigan, Vice President Kamala Harris was recently in Detroit, where she visited community members, elected officials and supporters.

CHASS Center Chief Executive OfficerDr. Felix Valbuena, Jr., and VP Harris shared a moment where he personally thanked her for supporting community health centers. She thanked him for the work of Michigan Primary Care Association-member CHCs and stated that the Biden Administration will continue to support the work of CHCs. (Dr. Valbuena is in the second facing row, second from left, wearing an open collar and sportscoat while holding a phone.)

Read the MLIVE “Vice President Kamala Harris talks vaccines and voting rights in first Michigan visit” story by Malachi Barrett by clicking on the link. (Photo credit: Nicole Hester/MLIVE.com)

ROCKVILLE, Md.–Recently, Health Resources and Services Administration is announcing that the HRSA COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured (Uninsured Program) has paid over 5 million claims to health care providers for administering COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured individuals.

“We know that Black, Latino, and Native American people are more likely to be uninsured. The Uninsured Program is a key tool for ensuring everyone has access to COVID-19 vaccines and that cost is not a barrier for individuals or health care providers,” said Acting HRSA Administrator Diana Espinosa. “Regardless of insurance or citizenship status, we want everyone living in the United States to be able to get vaccinated as soon as possible so we can defeat this pandemic.”

This important milestone reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. There are approximately 29 million uninsured individuals living in the United States. Communities of color have been especially hard-hit by both the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic downturn.

The Uninsured Program allows anyone without health insurance, no matter their immigration status, to receive their COVID-19 vaccines for free by reimbursing providers for the cost of administering the vaccine. The program also covers COVID-19 testing and treatment claims for individuals without health insurance. HRSA also recently launched the COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund, which covers the costs of administering COVID-19 vaccines to underinsured patients – those enrolled in health plans that either do not cover vaccination fees or cover them with patient cost-sharing.

Learn more about the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program.

–HRSA Office of Communications