BY SERENA O'SULLIVAN

KTAR.com

Sens. Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly have recently secured over $25 million in federal funds for Arizona.

The money is supporting small businesses, community health centers, workforce training programs, fire prevention and more, according to an announcement from last week.

“I’m proud to deliver strong investments for Arizona — supporting projects and priorities that will grow our economy, protect the health and prosperity of our families and loved ones, secure our border and keep families safe,” Sinema said in a statement.

Both senators secured a variety of investments to support leaders at county, city and local levels. The money will enhance the safety, health, security and economic strength of Arizona’s communities, the senators said.

Recently, CMS released the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan (M3P) Part Two Draft Guidance. The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan is a new program required under the Inflation Reduction Act under which Part D sponsors must provide enrollees the option to pay out-of-pocket prescription drug costs in the form of monthly payments over the course of the plan year, instead of all at once at the pharmacy, beginning in 2025.  A 30-day comment period for the draft part two guidance opened today and concludes on March 16, 2024.

Press Release: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-issues-additional-guidance-program-allow-people-medicare-pay-out-pocket-prescription-drug-costs

Fact Sheet: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/fact-sheet-medicare-prescription-payment-plan-draft-two-guidance.pdf

M3P Draft Part 2 Guidance: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/medicare-prescription-payment-plan-draft-part-two-guidance.pdf

By MADELINE ARMSTRONG | January 17, 2024 
Today's News-Herald

House Representative Selina Bliss has proposed a bill that establishes a Health Care Workforce Advisory Council as well as an Arizona Health Care Workforce Investment Fund that would address the healthcare workforce shortage in Arizona.

“As of January 2022, Arizona ranked among the top 5 states with the most severe healthcare staffing shortages,” reads a press release from the Arizona State Board of Nursing.

Among those most affected by the healthcare workforce shortage are Arizona’s rural communities including Mohave County.

According to a report released from the Arizona Department of Health Services on medically underserved areas in Arizona, Mohave County is home to a number of underserved areas including Lake Havasu City, Bullhead City, Kingman, Golden Valley, Colorado City and the Hualapai Tribe.

Phil Fitzgerald, CEO for Havasu RegionalMedical Center in Lake Havasu City and Valley View Regional Medical Center in Bullhead City, said that staffing shortages are a challenge that his hospitals have faced for years.

“Every range of departments is experiencing some type of shortage,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re not able to open as many beds as we have before. We can’t bring in as many patients as we would like to - people who are trying to access our facility for care, so we do have to send some of those patients outside of their own support area.”

Fitzgerald said that there are a number of reasons why Mohave County is facing a healthcare workforce shortage including the cost of living in the area.

“The area that we’re in; it’s hard. The cost of living has something

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Consider submitting a presentation proposal or research poster to contribute to NRHA's Health Equity Conference, one of the only meetings in the nation to focus on health equity issues in rural America, May 6-7, 2024, in New Orleans, La.

Presentations are due by next Thursday, Dec. 7 for this one-of-a-kind event, while posters are due by Feb. 8.

Coordinated by NRHA's Health Equity Council, this conference is designed for those who are dedicated to bringing quality health care and health care services to underserved and often under-represented populations. These include LGBTQIA+, veteran, and homeless rural residents as well as multiracial and multicultural members of rural communities.

Click here to submit an abstract

Holly Figueroa Recognized as Arizona’s
“Community Star” on National Rural Health Day 

Arizona Center for Rural Health – Holly Figueroa, BCBSAZ Health Choice & Arizona Rural Health Association, has been named Arizona’s 2023 “Community Star” by the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH). 

On the third Thursday of November, NOSORH leads National Rural Health Day (NRHD), an annual celebration that shines a light on those who serve the vital health needs of the nearly 61 million people living in rural America. Holly Figueroa will be featured prominently on the official NRHD website, PowerOfRural.org, on November 16, 2023, alongside other Community Stars from across the nation. This platform will showcase each Star’s remarkable dedication and contributions to rural healthcare.

Arizona Center for Rural Health is proud to join NOSORH in honoring Holly Figueroa as Arizona's Community Star. Ms. Figueroa has shown steadfast commitment to improving health systems in her community and throughout Arizona. We are honored to work with her and congratulate her on this well-earned recognition.               

In 2015, the Community Star Recognition Program was established in conjunction with NRHD to tell the stories of the people and organizations who make a difference in rural communities. Since then, over 300 inspiring rural stars have been honored nationwide on NRHD.

Additional information about National Rural Health Day can be found at PowerOfRural.org. To learn more about Arizona Center for Rural Health visit crh.arizona.edu.

Ann Garn
Arizona Center for Rural Health
agarn@arizona.edu

Release Date: November 1, 2023

Elizabeth Hall-Lipsey, JD, MPH, past president of AzRHA and faculty of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Arizona, recently completed her fellowship with the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). NRHA's Rural Health Fellows program is a yearlong, intensive training program that develops leaders who can articulate a clear and compelling vision for rural America.

The Arizona Rural Health Association (AzRHA) has announced a call for nominations for its 2024 board of directors.  If you are interested in nominating a colleague or self-nominating, you may click here to complete the board application form.

Diagnostic tests can show if you have an active COVID-19 infection. 

These at-home OTC COVID-19 diagnostic tests are FDA authorized for self-testing at home (or in other locations). This means you collect your own sample, perform the test, and read the result yourself without the need to send a sample to a laboratory. 

Learn more

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed a proclamation dedicating the month of September as Suicide Prevention Month.  The Arizona Rural Health Association joins fellow associations in thanking the Governor for the recognition of suicide prevention.

Click here to view the proclamation

When Holly Figueroa accepted the role of president of the Arizona Rural Health Association board of directors in July 2022, she knew the term was only a year, but hoped she could dig deep to make changes that would help the organization’s role in rural health advocacy grow in meaning and in action.

“There was a time of transition, and I didn’t always feel that I'd have the opportunity to really dig deep into what AzRHA would like to accomplish,” Figueroa said.

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