RISE looks at recent headlines concerning social determinants of health (SDoH).
CMS grants $50M to expand critical school-based health services for children
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced this week $50 million in grants for states to implement or expand school-based health services, such as mental health services, for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Twenty states will receive up to $2.5 million each to improve their school-based health services, with at least 10 of the awards given to states that have yet to cover school-based health services. There are currently 16 states covering school-based health services provided to children covered by Medicaid or CHIP beyond those with special education needs reflected in an Individualized Education Program or an Individual Family Service Plan. The states include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia.
“This funding will be transformational for states at any stage in developing school-based health services programs, which represent one of CMS’ most powerful tools for expanding access to care for our children,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure in a statement. “Medicaid and CHIP cover over 39 million children. This targeted support is one way CMS can help kids get the health care they need by meeting them where they are—in school.”
AWS boosts health equity initiative to $60M
Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced this week it has increased funding for its health equity initiative by $20 million, totaling the funding to $60 million. The global cloud-based initiative, which launched in 2021, provides funding to institutions and companies using the cloud technology to address health disparities in underserved communities.
The initial goal was a three-year, $40 million commitment to address health equity disparities. AWS has since given $30 million in funding to organizations. The additional $20 million in funding will continue to be used to provide cloud credits and technical expertise, AWS said.
“We’ve seen participants in the Health Equity Initiative create incredible solutions that effectively address the equity gaps in accessing quality health services. Organizations have been able to use cloud technology to invent new ways to provide critical care to historically underserved populations in projects across 28 countries,” said Danielle Morris, global health equity lead at AWS, in a statement. “From helping build more diverse health data stores to using artificial intelligence (AI) for early stroke diagnoses, these organizations are developing solutions that are changing the game for populations with otherwise limited access.”
Pennsylvania HIEs, findhelp partner to build online tool to address SDoH
Pennsylvania's Department of Human Services has awarded Pennsylvania's Consortium of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) and findhelp, a health IT vendor, a contract to build a statewide online social care tool called PA Navigate.
PA Navigate will serve as a tool to screen individuals across Pennsylvania for SDoH, such as food insecurity, access to housing, and lack of transportation, and connect them with community supports and services to address their needs. The system will also track referral outcomes.
"We selected findhelp as our technology partner for PA Navigate because they have the best integration capabilities in this space and are the technology that many health care organizations in our state have chosen to work with," said Bill Marella, vice president, value-based care and data analytics of HealthShare Exchange, in a statement.