November 3, 2025
SNAP EMERGENCY
POLITICO, 11/3 – President DONALD TRUMP’s administration today said it would use $4.65 billion in a USDA contingency fund to restore food assistance for Americans, which lapsed over the weekend. But that will only cover half the amount those nearly 42 million Americans would typically receive.
In a court filing, the administration said it would allow some benefits to go to the “current allotments” for participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. It came after a federal judge on Friday ordered officials to find a way to keep the program open.
But the filing emphasized that no funds would be left over for people who were approved for the program this month, and the administration refused to tap other funds that would allow the $8 billion that’s needed for full SNAP benefits in November to be released.
In addition, the filing also asserted that it could still take weeks — and in some states, “several months” — for families to receive even those reduced benefits. That’s because state agencies must input the adjusted benefits into their systems, many of which are decades old and will require manual overrides, according to the filing.
Meanwhile, Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching as temperatures plunge, electric bills rise and families scramble to adjust to leaner cupboards. Food banks are already straining to meet rising demand, especially as federal workers across the country missed yet another paycheck.
CYNTHIA KIRKHART, who runs the Facing Hunger food bank in Huntington, West Virginia, said the additional SNAP money will help, but there are “still too many uncertainties for folks to count on.”
Late last month, ahead of the expiration of SNAP funds, Kirkhart told West Wing Playbook her organization was already seeing significantly higher numbers of people seeking food assistance due to government furloughs.
CLAIRE NEAL, CEO of the MANNA Food Bank in Asheville, North Carolina, said she was “encouraged by the progress toward restoring SNAP benefits, but full restoration is urgently needed.”
“Every day of delay means children, seniors and families are going without food,” she continued.
The Office of Management and Budget did not respond to a request for comment.
The administration also quietly readied $450 million from a fund of unused tariff revenue just before the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, was set to run out of money on Saturday — the second time the administration has moved to keep the program for low-income mothers and babies afloat. That program delivers tailored nutrition, infant formula and breastfeeding support to nearly 7 million people.
A senior administration official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, emphasized that the administration had “always said we would provide these funds.”
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RURAL HEALTH TRANSFORMATION PROGRAM (RHTP)
For those following along, yesterday was the deadline for New York State to submit its application to CMS for funds through the new Rural Healthcare Transformation Program. As you may recall, in early September the NYS Council attended a meeting in which we pitched several ‘on the fly’ ideas for ways in which the state could leverage these funds to improve access to care for New Yorkers in rural areas of the state. About a week later we formalized our recommendations and submitted them to the Director at the Center for Health Care Policy and Resource Development in the Office of Health Care Delivery at the Department of Health (see ATTACHED). We are tracking New York’s application and we have reached out to the Director in hopes of learning details regarding the final proposals NYS developed and submitted for CMS consideration. Stand by.
(Modern Healthcare Daily Dose, 11/3)
Technology and consulting companies have teamed up to try to expand the reach of rural providers and the Rural Health Transformation Program.
Lumeris, Teladoc Health, Nuna, Deloitte and Unite Us on Monday launched the Collaborative for Healthy Rural America. The coalition aims to use artificial intelligence-backed technology and the scale of those companies to boost care and lower costs for rural hospital operators and other providers.
The Collaborative for Healthy Rural America is aimed at initiatives under the Rural Health Transformation Program, which is a $50 billion fund created under the new tax law. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are judging applications, due Nov. 5, and will disburse $10 billion per year for five years to states that successfully pitch programs to recruit staff, stand up new technology, pay providers and develop value-based care initiatives, among other areas.
The federal government wants initiatives outlined in these applications to be self-sustaining, said John Fryer, chief growth and corporate development officer at Lumeris, a primary care-focused technology and care management company. This collaboration can help states get these programs up and running quickly, he said.
“To solve some of these problems facing rural communities at scale, which is what the federal government is looking to do, this collaboration can drive economies of scale and infrastructure development across state boundaries that can lead to higher quality care, improve access and bend the cost curve,” Fryer said.
Lumeris, which spearheaded the Collaborative for Healthy Rural America, hopes to expand the coalition to other companies that want to offer their technology and resources to healthcare stakeholders and be part of a national data analysis and care improvement platform, Fryer said.
Lumeris has a Google Cloud-backed, primary care-focused agentic AI tool that automates routine tasks, suggests care plans and flags potential care gaps. Teladoc will offer its network of virtual care providers to the coalition, Nuna will provide a daily virtual coach for chronic disease management, Deloitte will integrate population health data across IT platforms and Unite Us will suggest community support services via integrated care coordination and payment software, according to a news release.
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Note from Lauri:
For New York State Medicaid, practitioners enrolled as OPRA (Ordering/Prescribing/
Many agencies take responsibility for ensuring their practitioners are up-to-date in terms of their certifications, licenses, etc. however, based on the story I heard recently, this should be a shared responsibility with two sets of eyes on the calendar. The practitioners you employ have a responsibility to keep all of their credentials and all of their registrations and enrollments current, and it makes sense for your agency to track and assist but you should not be the only party tracking these important dates and requirements.
Here is some information regarding the OPRA re-enrollment process:
- Notification: The DOH will send an initial letter and then a final letter to the correspondence address on file when it is time to revalidate. You should not send in a revalidation application until you receive one of these notices.
- Timeline: While the standard revalidation is every five years, the DOH reserves the right to request an “off-cycle” revalidation at any time.
- Checking your status: You can check your next anticipated revalidation date on the Medicaid Enrolled Provider Listing, which is available on the eMedNY website. You can also call the eMedNY Call Center to ask for your revalidation date.
- Consequences of not re-enrolling: If you fail to revalidate by the deadline, your Medicaid enrollment will be terminated. This means you will no longer be eligible to order, refer, or prescribe for New York State Medicaid recipients. If terminated, you would need to apply for reinstatement to be enrolled again.
- Keeping your information current: It is crucial to keep your correspondence address up-to-date in the eMedNY system so you do not miss the revalidation notices.
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FDA to Weigh AI Tools for Mental Health
Becker’s Hospital News, 11/3
The FDA’s Digital Health Advisory Committee will meet Nov. 7 to evaluate whether generative AI tools can be used safely and effectively in mental healthcare. The session marks the committee’s first in nearly a year and comes amid growing use of AI-powered chatbots by patients seeking alternatives to traditional therapy, according to a Nov. 3 report from Politico.
Here are five things to know:
- The FDA has not approved any generative AI devices for mental health treatment. However, it has authorized more than 1,200 AI-enabled tools for other clinical purposes.
- The committee will hear presentations on clinical trial data, provider and patient considerations, and use cases from other industries, according to an FDA meeting summary reviewed by Politico.
- Regulators said existing oversight frameworks must evolve to address the complexity of digital mental health tools while promoting innovation and ensuring safety.
- Committee members will consider a hypothetical case involving an adult with depression who prefers interacting with a generative AI model over a human therapist. They will discuss whether such tools should be prescribed to younger patients or sold over the counter.
- The meeting comes amid legal scrutiny of chatbot use. Several lawsuits claim unsupervised AI interaction contributed to self-harm in minors.
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Announcement from The Lawyers Alliance:
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