- Weathering the Storm Together: Community Resiliency Hubs Hold the Promise of Local Self-Sufficiency and Supportive Mutual Aid
- Virginia Tech Researchers Bring Rural Families into the Nation's Largest Study of Early Brain and Child Development
- Expanding Access to Cancer Care for Rural Veterans
- VA: Veterans Rural Health Advisory Committee, Notice of Meeting
- Scaling Rural Wellness with Clever Collaboration
- Stroudwater Associates Enhances Rural Healthcare Dashboard with New Data to Support State Rural Transformation Grant Applications
- Harvest Season Is Here: Busy Times Call for Increased Focus on Safety and Health
- HHS Dispatches More Than 70 Public Health Service Officers to Strengthen Care in Tribal Communities
- Wisconsin Rural Hospitals Team up to Form Network
- CMS Launches Landmark $50 Billion Rural Health Transformation Program
- American Heart Association Provides Blood Pressure Kits at Southeast Arkansas Regional Libraries to Support Rural Health
- Broadening Access to Minimally Invasive Surgery Could Narrow Rural-Urban Health Gaps
- Instead of Selling, Some Rural Hospitals Band Together To Survive
- Help Line Gives Pediatricians Crucial Mental Health Information to Help Kids, Families
- Rural Health: A Strategic Opportunity for Governors
Update: CMS Guidance on RHC and FQHC Telehealth Billing Changes
Beginning October 1, 2026, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) must bill the individual Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) or Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code for distant site telehealth services they provide instead of HCPCS code G2025.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) publishes these codes annually along with Calendar Year (CY) Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rule. RHCs and FQHCs must report the appropriate revenue code along with modifier 93 (audio-only) or 95 (audio-visual) to indicate the service was performed via telehealth.
NTIA’s 2027 Internet Use Survey Open for Input
In this request, the NTIA seeks comment from the public and from other Federal agencies on a set of questions for the November 2027 edition of the Current Population Survey about whether and how citizens are using the internet.
The Internet Use Survey collects data on how people in the U.S. use computers, devices, and the internet. The survey is conducted annually by the U.S. Census Bureau through its Current Population Survey on behalf of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). The NTIA uses the data to inform policymakers, researchers, and the public.
Comment by November 9.
SAMHSA Recovery Resource Center Provides Resources, Information
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides resources and information for behavioral health recovery support and services. These include a series of guides for recovery services in rural areas.
USDA WIC & FMNP Modernization Evaluation 2025 Annual Report Published
For this report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) interviewed State agencies about their experiences implementing the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the WIC Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program (FMNP).
This is the second annual report on USDA’s effort to modernize these programs that go beyond standard food assistance known as SNAP – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – and provides benefit to low-income pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women as well as children up to age five. The evaluation includes feedback on efforts in rural communities.
Highlights from Summit on Rural Healthcare Information Technology
In April 2026, the Rural Health Value team held a national convening of rural health care leaders to learn about how organizations are making critical technology investment decisions as value-based care continues to evolve. This report highlights findings from the event and offers practical lessons and recommendations for leveraging health IT to support value-based care success.
A key takeaway from participants is that effective technology investments begin with people and processes, not technology alone. This material was developed by Rural Health Value, a national initiative – funded by cooperative agreement with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy – to assist rural organizations, payers, and communities transition to value-based care.
Rural Substance Use Burden: Data on Substance Use Policy and Planning Published
Researchers analyzed the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and found that estimates for prevalence of rural substance use were frequently higher than national and non-rural averages. This brief seeks to inform policies, strategies, and interventions that are tailored to rural communities, taking health-related differences and service gaps into account.
These findings underscore the importance of rural–urban data analysis and adequate rural representation in public health surveillance to better identify geographic variation, inform targeted policy and programmatic responses, and maximize community and population health. The findings come from JBS International, Inc., the technical assistance provider to grantees of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s Rural Communities Opioid Response Program.
HHS Awards More Than $380 Million to Strengthen America’s Behavioral Health System on 988 Services
This week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new awards for a variety of programs administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
These include capacity building for 988 suicide crisis services, rural emergency medical services training, rural opioid technical assistance centers, Tribal opioid response, and residential treatment for pregnant and postpartum women.
County-Level Data Repository for Rural Maternal Health Launched
The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy-funded Rural Maternal Health Data Support program launched a new tool that allows users to build customized maternal health profiles for any selection of U.S. counties.
The repository includes indicators on population demographics, health care provider capacity, and maternal health outcomes, as well as state maps showing county-level availability of hospital obstetric services.
USDA ERS Reports Address SNAP, Migration, Aging
The primary purpose of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s research arm is to anticipate trends and emerging issues across four core areas under USDA’s purview: agriculture, food, the environment, and rural America. The ERS provides data and analysis to policymakers, evaluates Federal food and nutrition programs, and monitors factors that impact rural life and development. Recent reports include:
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – this report provides a brief background on the nation’s largest nutrition assistance program, explaining the Federal-State relationship for distributing benefits and recent changes brought by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last year.
- Migration and Aging Across the Rural-Urban Continuum – this report finds that population aging from 2010 to 2020 was driven almost entirely by aging in place, rather than migration, as in previous decades. Counties to which older people moved tended to have better economic and health indicators than counties where younger people migrated away.
CMS to Open Medicare Part D 340B Claims Data Repository for Voluntary Submissions October 1
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will open the Medicare Part D Claims Data 340B Repository on October 1, 2026, allowing covered entities in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, or their third-party administrators or other contracted partners, to voluntarily submit data from 2026 Medicare Part D 340B claims.
CMS established the repository as part of the Medicare Part D Inflation Rebate Program to test whether submitted claims data could eventually be used to identify 340B units that must be excluded from Part D inflation rebate calculations; data submitted during the testing period will not be used for rebate calculations or other program purposes. Covered entities choosing to participate are requested to submit data quarterly, with claims from January 1 through September 30, 2026, due December 31, 2026. The fact sheet also notes that CMS has proposed, in the CY 2027 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule, to require Medicare providers and suppliers that are 340B covered entities to submit repository data for claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2027.