The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is a federal agency in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is tasked with improving the health care of marginalized or isolated, medically and economically vulnerable groups. Different programs of the agency are funded depending on the load of care elicited. The data of Cark County in the Nevada region is reflected under a wide array of topics. The county has 26 Health Center Services Delivery, including the 12 Ryan white HV/AIDS providers. Only one organ transplant is available that belongs to the national government but housed in the county.
Forty-six sites have been approved for the National Health Service Corps (NHSC). Among the agency’s programs, the Health Center program has the highest funds amounting to $6,382,798, and Ryan White Human Immunodeficiency Virus Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) Program awarded $7,482 295. Other programs funded include the health workforce with Nurse corps and the loan repayment and scholarship amounting to $529,746 and $177,777. Health professional training Grants to Support Institutions $1,599,987, Rural health $231,710, and maternal and Health $996,344 (“Explore Data and Maps on HRSA’s Health Care Programs,” n.d.). This data compares with the 2019/20 financial year close.
Compared to the national level, HRSA presents comparative data of Nevada and Clark County. The national level has data on maternal and child health funding but not available in the county fact sheet. Data for rural funding amounted to 568 districts totalling $187,677,770 with the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) grant for the nation, region and local communities amounting to $2,243,866,629. This is way more than 40 times what Clark County was awarded.
Shortage Designation
Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) cover areas with population groups placed by the HRSA team to elicit health care and facilities following shortage of healthcare personnel. Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) and Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) are other departments dealing with isolated populations with limited access to primary healthcare services. HRSA has partnered with Primary Care Offices (PCOs), where the states PCOs perform needs assessment in the regions. The states assess what areas need the designations and submit the assessment to the HRSA agency (“Explore Data and Maps on HRSA’s Health Care Programs,” n.d). HRSA reviews the assessments brought by state PCOs, and if they pass the designation criterion, the area, population, or facility is designated. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in collaboration with Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), gave a notice on proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to aid access to affordable insulin and epinephrine for the economically marginalized individuals across all health centres in the United States.
The health Center Program elicits services associated with care across a vast population of about 30 million medically underserved individuals annually. In addition, another number, not less than 2.7 million people across the country with diabetes, also receive care from this program (“Explore Data and Maps on HRSA’s Health Care Programs,” n.d). Suppose the Federal can have any means of expanding access to lifesaving care by providing injectable epinephrine and insulin, the impacts can be good. In that case, they can significantly improve the health status of persons living with chronic diseases. This care can reduce or eliminate health disparities that impact people across underserved regions or those who have limited access to healthcare facilities nationwide.
The Notice on Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) made a proposal that saw health centre grants available for section 330 (e) of the Public health Service Act. These grants are primarily for the injectable epinephrine and insulin through the 340B Drug Pricing Program (“Explore Data and Maps on HRSA’s Health Care Programs,” n.d). The program has established practices to avail these drugs at an affordable price paid by the 340B program. These drugs will be available across health centres where patients are economically deprived or have health insurance with high-cost sharing requirements for insulin or injectable epinephrine.
Reference
Explore data and maps on HRSA’s health care programs. (n.d). 2021, Web.