- CMS: Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- CMS: Medicare Program; FY 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Fiscal Year 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
- CMS: Request for Information; Health Technology Ecosystem
- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- State: 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application
- Public Inspection: CMS: Request for Information: Health Technology Ecosystem
- HHS: Request for Information (RFI): Ensuring Lawful Regulation and Unleashing Innovation To Make American Healthy Again
- VA: Solicitation of Nominations for the Appointment to the Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs
- GAO Seeks New Members for Tribal and Indigenous Advisory Council
- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- Telehealth Study Recruiting Veterans Now
- USDA Delivers Immediate Relief to Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Communities Impacted by Recent Disasters
- Submit Nominations for Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) Committees
HHS Announces Enhanced Provider Portal, Relief Fund Payments for Safety Net Hospitals, Medicaid & CHIP Providers
On June 9, 2020, The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced additional distributions from the Provider Relief Fund to eligible providers that participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs. HHS expects to distribute approximately $15 billion to eligible providers that have not received a payment from the Provider Relief Fund General Allocation. Read about the announcement here. HHS is also announcing the distribution of $10 billion in Provider Relief Funds to safety net hospitals that serve our most vulnerable citizens. The safety net distribution will occur this week. This is not a rural specific distribution, but Medicaid is an important source of coverage in rural areas.
CMS Announces COVID-19 Related Adjustments for Innovation Model
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a fact sheet describing adjustments that have been made or that CMS will be making to certain CMS Innovation Center Models to address the COVID-19 public health emergency. On the topic of telehealth, one adjustment allows Independence at Home model practices to utilize telehealth to meet quality metric requirements for two (of the six required) measures. Models addressed in the fact sheet may also include rural providers. Read more here.
Process of Identifying Measures and Data Elements for the HRSA School-Based Telehealth Network Grant Program
To demonstrate how telehealth can expand access to and improve the quality of healthcare services offered in schools, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded 21 grants across the country for the School-Based Telehealth Network Grant Program in 2016. As part of this initiative, the Rural Telehealth Research Center identified a set of measures that could be collected from each of the grantees for a cross-grantee assessment of school-based telehealth services, utilization, process, and outcomes. Read more here.
2020 National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Assessment
The report from the National Association of State EMS Officials describes emergency medical services at the state and national levels and includes sources and amounts of federal funding, including the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. Read the report here.
Housing Assistance Council: Half of Rural Households Have Responded to Census
The national non-profit reports on the way long-established challenges and the pandemic have slowed the response from rural households. Read more here.
RWJF: Health Equity Principles for Re-opening and Recovering from COVID-19
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released a brief for state and local leaders with considerations for health equity in the public health response to the pandemic. Read more here.
SAMHSA Reports on COVID-19 and Behavioral Health Disparities in Black and Latino Communities
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides data on social and economic factors that contribute to poor health outcomes in communities of color. Read their report here. A separate issue brief from SAMHSA presents recent data on the prevalence of opioid misuse and death in the Black/African American population.
New Black Lung Clinics Grants Awarded
The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy announced $11.2 million awarded to 15 recipients for the new competitive cycle of the Black Lung Clinics Program (BLCP). The purpose of this program is to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with occupationally-related coal mine dust lung disease through the provision of quality medical, outreach, educational, and benefits counseling services for active, inactive, retired, and disabled US coal miners. In an effort to address current disease trends, the program includes an emphasis on Coal Workers’ Pneumoconiosis & Progressive Massive Fibrosis. Additionally, the University of Illinois at Chicago received funding for the Black Lung Data and Resource Center. The program aims to strengthen the operations of BLCP recipients through programmatic assistance and improved data collection and analysis related to the health status and needs of U.S. coal miners. Find more information here.
Bipartisan Policy Center: Rural Health Report Update
The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) held a two-hour webcast on April 21, 20202, to mark the release of a new rural health policy report. This latest report is an update of its previous report. It has some new perspectives reflecting experiences of rural communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new report can be read here: BPC_Rural-Health-Care-Report – 2020.
There are multiple payment-related recommendations in the new report which would affect CAHs, RHCs and FQHCs. Many of these recommendations could become the basis of future COVID-19 relief legislation.
During the webcast Rural Health Task Force members provided their individual perspectives on the challenges facing rural health care. Many of the policy positions were shared by Task Force members:
- The need for payment reforms is emphasized by the BPC Task Force. Many of these are incremental changes, though there is great interest in the global payment approach being explored in PA.
- There is a strong shared sentiment that many hospitals need to transition to a smaller, reduced service operation. This sentiment is embodied in the Task Force recommendation for the establishment of a new CMS hospital designation – the Rural Emergency and Outpatient Hospital (REO). Transition of hospitals to the new model would be accomplished through a community-wide transformation planning process to be supported with Federal funds.
- The Task Force also sees a potential role for FQHCs and RHCs that might wish to expand services into the inpatient arena. This would be permitted under a new Extended Rural Services (ERS) Program.
- The Task Force looks for payment reforms and expanded workforce training programs to address the need to improve access to maternal care in rural areas.
- Multiple rural health workforce program expansions are recommended. These include expansions of the J-1 Visa Waiver program and rural training track program, New support programs – including rural provider tax credit programs modeled after successful OR and NM programs – are also recommended.
- A variety of recommendations related to rural broadband and telehealth expansions are presented.
- The need for rural relevant quality measurement and performance monitoring is recognized in the report.
BPC recommendations, if implemented, may lead to an expansion of SORH activities. The REO and ERS programs would require planning efforts which could easily be coordinated with SORH participation.
For those interested in hearing the full webcast, check the following link:
Report: Rural Co-ops Can Close the Digital Divide
By Jan Pytalski
Locally owned utility cooperatives have the skills and motivation to provide better internet service for rural America. The Institute for Local Self Reliance recommends policies that could help get the job done. Read the article here.