- Number of U.S. Hospitals Offering Obstetric Care Is Declining
- NRHA Announces 2025 Rural Health Fellows
- New RSV Drug Delivers Promising Results in Alaska's Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta
- Lack of Civic Infrastructure Drives Rural Health Disparities
- VA: Solicitation of Nomination for Appointment to the Veterans' Rural Health Advisory Committee
- EOP: National Rural Health Day, 2024
- Distance, Workforce Shortages Complicate Mental Health Access in Rural Nevada Communities
- Bird Flu Is Racing Through Farms, but Northwest States Are Rarely Testing Workers
- After Helene, Clinician Teams Brought Critical Care To Isolated WNC Communities
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces $52 Million Investment for Health Centers to Provide Care for People Reentering the Community after Incarceration
- The Biden-Harris Administration Supports Rural Health Care
- On National Rural Health Day, Reps. Sewell and Miller Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Support Rural Hospitals
- HRSA: Inclusion of Terrain Factors in the Definition of Rural Area for Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Grants
- Terri Sewell Cosponsors Bill Reauthoring Program to Support Rural Hospitals
- DEA, HHS: Third Temporary Extension of COVID-19 Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications
House Appropriations Hearing is Addressing the Challenges in Rural America
A recording of the nearly three-hour focus on rural in the House Committee on Appropriations. Testimony and discussion include access to health care, labor/workforce development, and education.
Comments Have Been Requested on Proposed Medicare Hospital Payment and REH Updates
On April 10, 2023, CMS issued proposed changes to Medicare’s inpatient prospective payments made to acute care and long-term care hospitals. Specifically, CMS proposes a 2.8% increase to hospitals that successfully participate in the Inpatient Quality Reporting program and are meaningful electronic health record (EHR) users. They also propose to continue policies that support low-wage index hospitals, many of which are rural, and to include data for hospitals that reclassify from urban to rural (42 CFR §412.103) in other wage index calculations. There is a proposal to adjust payments when homelessness is indicated and a Request for Information on the unique challenges faced by safety-net hospitals and the patients they serve. Finally, CMS has proposed to allow Rural Emergency Hospitals (REH), a Medicare new provider type, to serve as training sites for Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) payment purposes, and they provided proposed regulations on what information must be submitted to CMS when a hospital applies to become an REH. Comments are due by June 9, 2023.
CMS Releases Proposed Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System for FY 2024
On April 4, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would update the Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System (SNF PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2024. In addition to the rate updates, the proposed rule includes proposals for the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and the SNF Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program for FY 2024 and future years. Also, effective with services furnished on or after January 1, 2024, CMS proposes to add marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors to the list of practitioners whose services are excluded from the consolidated billing provision and is seeking comments identifying HCPCS codes that might meet the criteria for exclusion from SNF consolidated billing. Comments are due by June 5, 2023.
Comments Have Been Requested on Proposed Medicare Inpatient Psychiatric Payment Rates
On April 4, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to update Medicare payment policies and rates for the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The proposed rule includes updates to the inpatient psychiatric payment rates and a request for information to about future payment changes and data collection for inpatient psychiatric services. Comments are due by June 5, 2023.
Comments Have Been Requested on Proposed Medicare Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Payment Rates
On April 3, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to update Medicare payment policies and rates for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF) for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The proposed rule would also update reporting requirements for the IRF Quality Reporting Program. Comments are due by June 2, 2023.
CMS Releases Proposed Hospice Payment Rate Update for FY 2024
On March 31, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare hospice payments and the aggregate cap amount for fiscal year (FY) 2024. The proposed rule would include a 5-percent cap on wage index decreases and require hospice-certifying physicians to be Medicare-enrolled or to have validly opted out as a prerequisite for payment for the hospice period of care in question. Also, this rule includes information on hospice utilization trends and solicits comments regarding information related to the provision of higher levels of hospice care. Comments are Due by May 30, 2023.
Here You Can Find an Atlas of Rural and Small-Town America
The Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture updated its statistics on several socioeconomic factors: people, jobs, rural-urban county classifications, income, and veterans.
A New Update on Rural Broadband Access and Telehealth Use During the Pandemic
Researchers compared county-level data broadband capacity with telehealth use among Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries from January through September 2020. The association between broadband access and telehealth utilization and the decreased telehealth utilization in rural areas highlights the importance of broadband access for healthcare access and the need to continue investing in broadband infrastructure to promote equitable healthcare access across populations.
Read Here about Expanding Rural Food Options Through EBT: A Case Study
A program in rural Tennessee experimented by supplying local food producers with knowledge and training about how to accept payment provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). After a workshop informing farmers about the benefits of accepting SNAP, the program provided hands-on support for navigating the application process for Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT), the system by which low-income consumers who receive SNAP benefits can purchase food at local farmers’ markets. See the Funding section below for a new opportunity, USDA’s Farmers Market Promotion Program.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Warns About New Illicit Drug Threat
This week, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) alerted the public to the noticeable rise of xylazine, a non-opioid agent increasingly found in combination with opioids such as fentanyl. Known by its street name, “tranq” or “tranq dope,” the drug is approved only for veterinary use; in humans, the powerful sedative, analgesic, and muscle relaxant can depress breathing, blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature to critical levels. The overdose antidote naloxone does not reverse its effects. Additionally, people who inject drugs containing xylazine can develop severe skin wounds that easily become infected and, if left untreated, may lead to amputation.