Happy Friday! Here’s your NCMS Morning Rounds!Oct. 23, 2020NC Medicaid Extends Rate IncreasesNC Medicaid is extending temporary provider rate increases and clinical coverage policies related to COVID-19 through the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency, which goes through January 21, 2021. This action will extend all COVID-19 rate increases currently in place. If the federal government extends the federal Public Health Emergency or takes other action, NC Medicaid will reassess both needs and available funding for further extension of temporary rate increases. For more information, please refer to SPECIAL BULLETIN COVID-19 #139: COVID-19 Temporary Provider Rate Increases and Clinical Policy Changes Extended. HOPE Program Offers Rent, Utilities AssistanceThe Housing Opportunities and Prevention of Evictions (HOPE) Program is a new statewide initiative that may provide rent and utility assistance to eligible low- and moderate-income renters experiencing financial hardship due to the economic effects of COVID-19. The new program will help prevent evictions and utility disconnections in order to promote housing stability during the ongoing pandemic. HOPE is an initiative of the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency, a division of the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, and is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant program – Coronavirus and the U.S. Department of the Treasury Coronavirus Relief Funds. Learn more about the program on this fact sheet and FAQs. The HOPE funds will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Learn more and apply at this link (for Spanish speakers here). Please share this information with your patients and colleagues. Deadline Approaches for Future Clinician LeadersThe November deadline to apply to be part of the Kanof Institute for Physician Leadership (KIPL) Future Clinician Leaders College is fast approaching. This one-year interprofessional leadership development program is uniquely designed for emerging leaders in health care professional training in North Carolina. In partnership with the North Carolina AHEC Program lead by the Northwest AHEC, Future Clinician Leaders College participants will build strong leader identity in the interprofessional team and gain a thorough understanding of health care leadership including advocacy and driving change. Participants will have an opportunity to interact with North Carolina health care leaders and use their leadership skills to tackle major health policy challenges facing the state through a group project spanning clinical professions as well as institutions. Previous project topics have included: the opioid epidemic, provider shortage, cost of medicine, equity and population health. The deadline to apply to become a 2021 Future Clinician Leader is Nov. 13. If you are a medical, pharmacy, PA, nursing or other health professional student who wants to be a leader, please read our call for applications here. You may apply here. For more information, visit this website. In the News‘All You Want is to Be Believed’: The Impacts of Unconscious Bias in Health Care, Kaiser Health News, 10-21-20 Learning OpportunityREMINDER: Tune in to today’s Power Hour from 1 to 2 p.m.This election year has been compared by some political history scholars to the 1860 election, as presenting another stark choice between two competing visions for the future of the US. Politics at the local level is fundamental to that vision. Join a conversation with NC General Assembly representatives from both sides of the aisle as we discuss crucial issues for the state as well as the $25 million relief package for independent practices and other pressing health care issues. The KIPL Power Hour aims to provide a forum for ongoing conversation, collaboration, and community. Tune in to Power Hour weekly to hear from different experts, decision makers and influencers on a variety of topics. The format is informal and conversational, and sessions are easy to access through Zoom. Power Hours will be recorded and made available to you through your NCMS Morning Rounds and on the KIPL webpage. If you have policies you’d like your NCMS Board of Directors to consider, please complete the Board input form here. Thanks for reading!
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