By Robert Cushing

For the past half-century, the nation’s smallest counties have lost population about a third of the time. Meanwhile, population growth in the biggest cities was nearly uninterrupted. The difference has big implications for the future of American communities.
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By Liz Carey

With its $2.7 trillion infrastructure package, the Biden administration plans to heavily invest in rural America, targeting “social infrastructure” alongside roads and bridges.
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The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) has created this document to summarize the new REH model and NRHA’s considerations for CMS. Section 125 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 created the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) model as a new Medicare provider type. The designation is effective as of January 1, 2023. NRHA believes the REH model will be an opportunity for vulnerable rural communities to maintain an essential access point for health services. It will be critical for NRHA membership to engage in the REH implementation process, including monitoring CMS’ development of the conditions of participation and calculations of payment methodologies. You can find our blog on the document here. If you have questions or feedback, please reach out to Carrie Cochran-McClain at ccochran@nrharural.org.

The House of Representatives passed H.R. 1868, a bill continuing Medicare sequestration relief through the end of the year and providing technical corrections to the December changes to the provider-based RHC program. The corrections change the enactment date of provider-based RHCs subject to the cap from December 31, 2019, to December 31, 2020, as well as made those clinics which had submitted an 855A application by December 31, 2020, to be eligible for the grandfathered rates. President Biden signed H.R. 1868 into law on Wednesday. NRHA applauds Congress for their work to continue relief from Medicare sequestration as well as provide a needed technical correction to the RHC provisions signed into law in December.

The 2021 NHSC new site application cycle is now open for eligible health care sites that have never been approved as NHSC sites. This year’s application is also open to formerly-approved NHSC sites that have become inactive. Eligibility includes health care sites that provide outpatient, ambulatory and primary health care services (medical, dental, and behavioral health) in Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). Eligible site types also include facilities providing general substance use disorder (SUD) Treatment, a Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program or an Opioid Treatment Program (OTP). Applications are due May 25, 11:59 p.m. EDT. Learn more about the NHSC new site application.

The Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Shalanda Young shared President Biden’s FY 2022 discretionary funding requests with Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Notably, the President’s budget request included increases in funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Additionally, the President’s budget request included investments to help end the opioid epidemic, expand broadband access, reduce rural maternal mortality, address rural workforce shortages, and protect rural health care access. NRHA is working with leaders within Congress to ensure rural health care line items receive the funding and support they need during the FY 2022 appropriations process.