AAFP Reflects on Pandemic’s One-year Mark, What Lies Beyond

Countless dreadful milestones have come and gone in the 365 days since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. Too many firsts and not enough lasts. This has been especially true for medical workers on the front lines — including family physicians.

“Today marks a somber anniversary,” AAFP EVP and CEO Shawn Martin said on March 11. “A year ago, experts advised everyone to help flatten the curve. That failed to happen here, and the toll has been severe: 29 million cases and nearly 525,000 deaths in this country, including more than 3,500 health care workers. Read more...

FREE for UAFP/AAFP Members:*
Getting Back on Track - Catching up on Care During COVID

Saturday, April 17
8:00 AM - 1:15 PM

Some patients have been delaying preventative care and treatment for chronic conditions during the COVID pandemic. This valuable CME event will cover important updates for crucial prevention and treatment that your patients may be behind on.

Courses:

HPV Vaccine- Practical Ways to Significantly Increase Vaccine Rates |Neal Davis, MD, MS
Unmet Meeds and the Evolving Landscape in Acute Treatment of Migraine: Primary Care Professional on the Front Line | Susan Hutchinson, MD and Steward J. Tepper, MD
Community Based Fall Prevention….One Hip At A Time! | Liz Joy, MD, MPH, FACSM, FAMSSM
Preventing Type 2 Diabetes….Now More Than Ever | Liz Joy, MD, MPH, FACSM, FAMSSM
To Normoglycemia and Beyond: Updates in Diabetes Therapy | Elizabeth Bald, PharmD, BCACP and Hanna Raber, PharmD
What Family Physicians Should Know About Vaping | Thomas Ylioja, PhD

*Nominal tuition fee for non-members

Thank you to Haymarket Medical Education for providing migraine education supported by an educational grant from Allergan and AAFP’s Family Medicine Philanthropic Consortium for educational grants, helping to fund our continuing education.

Application for CME credit has been filed with the American Academy of Family Physicians. Determination of credit is pending.

Learn More and Register Now

Utah's Statewide Mask Mandate to End April 10

With the passage of HB 294, Utah's statewide mask mandate will end April 10, 2021. While not fully supported by Governor Cox, he will likely sign it as the bill passed with a veto-proof majority. Masks will still be mandated for gatherings of 50 or more and County governments can still impose their own mandates.

Other restrictions can be loosened once Utah hits 1.63 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, the 14-day case rate is less than 191 per 100,000 and Utah's ICU hospitalization rate is less than 15% on a seven-day average.

The bill also keeps the mask mandate in place for K-12 schools, leaving it to the Utah Department of Health to decide when and how the mask mandate will change in those settings.

Businesses can still require patrons to wear masks, and the governor has actually encouraged them to do so to keep their employees and customers safe.

Under the legislation, all public health orders will terminate on July 1 regardless of whether public health benchmarks are reached.

Affordable Care Act News

Pandemic Relief Bill Fulfills Biden’s Promise to Expand Obamacare, for Two Years

New York Times - The changes will only last for two years, but for some, they will be considerable: The Congressional Budget Office estimated that a 64-year-old earning $58,000 would see monthly payments decline from $1,075 under current law to $412 because the federal government would take up much of the cost. The rescue plan also includes rich new incentives to entice the few holdout states — including Texas, Georgia and Florida — to finally expand Medicaid to those with too much money to qualify for the federal health program for the poor, but too little to afford private coverage. Read more...

Special ACA Open Enrollment Period through May 15

There are 28 million people in the U.S. under age 65 without health insurance. Among the uninsured, at least 16 million are eligible for financial assistance to help pay their costs of coverage. This includes 6.7 million who are eligible for free or low-cost coverage through their state’s Medicaid program and 9.2 million who are eligible for subsidies through a state or federal insurance marketplace, according to Get Covered 2021. Of those individuals eligible for subsidies, 4 million could get an ACA bronze plan at no cost to them during the SEP, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) analysis. Help your patients, family, and friends find coverage through Getcovered2021.org

SAVE THE DATES - UAFP Summer and Fall Events

UAFP staff and board hope to begin hosting in-person events, as conditions allow, throughout the summer and fall. We will be posting additional information as we get closer to the events.

August 2021: Family Medicine Night with the Salt Lake Bees
Friday, September 17: Student & Resident Poster Session
Friday, September 17: UAFP Annual Member Meeting
Saturday, September 18: Implicit Bias in Medicine CME

Now Accepting Resident Leadership Award Nominations

Know a resident who promotes family medicine, possesses leadership skills, and serves as a role model to peers? Nominate them today!

Help UAFP recognize the outstanding leadership and accomplishments of graduating residents from our four Utah family medicine residency by nominating a deserving individual. Nominations may be made by individuals who have knowledge of the nominee's accomplishments including faculty, residency staff, fellow residents, and medical students. A nominee must be a resident member of UAFP and a current third year resident at a family medicine residency in Utah. Nominations due March 31, 2021. Winner will be announced in April. Learn more here.

Upcoming CME & Events

Engaging Patients in Diabetes Care ECHO Series

Wednesdays from April 7 - May 5, 2021 12:15 PM to 1:15 PM
Hosted by Comagine

Learn more and register here

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Virtual via Zoom

Multi-week series starting April 12
Hosted by the University of Utah Wellness & Integrative Health

Learn more and register here

Common Problems in Pediatrics

June 6 - 9, 2021
Hosted by the Utah Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics