- CMS: Medicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction Model
- CMS: Secretarial Comments on the CBE's (Battelle Memorial Institute) 2024 Activities: Report to Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
- HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- HRSA Announces Action to Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Life-Saving Medications at Health Centers Nationwide
- Public Inspection: HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- Increased Risk of Cyber Threats Against Healthcare and Public Health Sector
- Eight Hospitals Selected for First Cohort of Rural Hospital Stabilization Program
- Announcing the 2030 Census Disclosure Avoidance Research Program
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- 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
USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Build Community-Oriented High-Speed Internet Networks for People in Rural Areas
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden announced that USDA is accepting applications for grants to build community-oriented, high-speed internet networks for people in rural areas.
The Department is making up to $26 million in grants available under the Community Connect Program. This program provides funds to establish high-speed internet networks that will foster economic growth and deliver enhanced educational, health care and public safety benefits.
To learn more, read the full Stakeholder Announcement.
USDA Seeks Applications for Grants to Improve Access to Remote Education and Health Care for People in Rural and Tribal Communities
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden invited grant applications to improve access to remote education and health care in rural and Tribal communities.
USDA is making approximately $40 million in funding available under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) Grant Program.
This program funds distance learning and telemedicine equipment, like audio and video equipment. These funds will help digitally connect people to education, training and health care resources that are otherwise unavailable or limited in remote parts of the country.
To learn more, read full Stakeholder Announcement.
If you would like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page
USDA Seeks Applications to Improve Rural Transportation Systems and Connect People to More Economic Opportunities
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden announced that USDA is seeking applicants to provide technical assistance to enhance rural transportation systems that will connect people to more economic resources in their communities.
The grants are part of the Rural Business Development Grant program. Eligible applicants should be qualified, experienced national organizations seeking to provide rural communities with training and technical assistance to improve passenger transportation services and facilities.
Organizations receiving funding typically support Tribal, local and regional governments; public transit agencies; and related nonprofit and for-profit organizations in rural areas.
To learn more, read full Stakeholder Announcement.
Become a CDC Public Health Associate Program Rural Host Site in 2025
Live, informational webinars happening soon!
January 8: Rural-Serving PHAP Host Site Panel Discussion
2 – 3 pm ET Register for the meeting here
January 23: General PHAP Host Site Technical Assistance Call
2 – 3:30 pm ET Register for the meeting here
Are you looking for ways to fill workforce gaps to assist your organization’s delivery of public health services? Did you know CDC has a unique program that places motivated early-career public health professionals with public health organizations?
CDC’s Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) helps recent college graduates jump start their careers in public health with a CDC-funded two-year fellowship that offers hands-on, real-life experience in the day-to-day operations of public health programs in local communities. PHAP opportunities are also available with rural-serving organizations to help address the public health needs in rural communities.
Register below for the Rural-Serving PHAP Host Site Panel Discussion about the 2025 application process and the General PHAP Host Site Technical Assistance (TA) Call.
- TA calls are open to all organizations interested in applying to host a CDC public health associate in early 2025. Discussion topics include new resources for host organizations to use when applying and an overview of the updated application system.
- The rural host site sessions are for rural-serving organizations interested in applying to host a CDC public health associate in early 2025. These calls will feature a panel of rural-serving PHAP host site supervisors who will share their experience applying to host an associate.
For more information about CDC’s PHAP, visit PHAP Overview.
USDA to Partner with Energy Providers to Lower Costs for People in Rural Areas
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that USDA is seeking applications from energy providers to lower costs for people in rural areas. The grants will help providers offset costs for people whose household energy expenses total 275% of the national average or higher.
USDA is making the funding available through the Rural Utilities Service’s High Energy Cost Grant program.
To learn more, read the full Stakeholder Announcement.
Application Now Open for Rural Community Hospitals to Participate in Demonstration Program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is accepting new applications for the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration. The demonstration tests cost-based reimbursement for Medicare inpatient services for small rural hospitals with fewer than 51 beds that are not eligible to be Critical Access Hospitals.
As part of a broader rural strategy initiative, CMS hosted a Rural Health Hackathon in August 2024 to collaboratively produce creative, actionable ideas to address health care challenges facing rural communities. This Request for Applications (RFA) is one effort to help address these challenges.
The RFA opens today, December 20, and the application is available on Rural Community Hospital Demonstration webpage. Hospitals interested must apply by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 1, 2025. Hospitals currently participating in the demonstration do not need to complete a new application.
For the latest information on the demonstration, visit the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration webpage.
If you have questions about the demonstration, please email RCHDemo@cms.hhs.gov
The Role of Relaxed Telehealth Policy on Health Equity in Telehealth Utilization and Outcomes During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: A Living Systematic Review
The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) led to some of the most sweeping changes in telehealth policy, use, and research in recent history. These changes provided natural experiments that enabled research groups to study the implications of telehealth use on access to care, patient experiences, provider experiences, clinical outcomes, and cost, specifically during the PHE. Some of these studies included analyses or sub-aims focused on health equity. While other systematic reviews focusing on telehealth related to policy changes during the PHE have been conducted, most of those systematic reviews have not focused on the ways in which telehealth ameliorated health disparities.
In 2022, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office for the Advancement of Telehealth funded a project to conduct living systematic reviews (LSRs) to describe the current evidence measuring the association between telehealth use during the COVID-19 PHE and health equity. To conduct LSRs focused on health equity, we convened an Expert Panel to select the specific questions that we would include in our formal systematic review searches. We conducted three systematic reviews, and we planned both a primary search and a secondary (“living”) follow-up search. Methods and findings are discussed in this brief.
Please click here to read the brief.
Rural Telehealth Research Center, University of Iowa, 200 Hawkins Drive, 1008 RCP, Iowa City, IA 52242
Email: rtrc-inquiry@uiowa.edu
www.ruraltelehealth.org
Report on the State of the Primary Care Workforce Released
HRSA’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis collects data, conducts research, and generates information to inform and support public- and private-sector decision making. This brief, State of the Primary Care Workforce, 2024, examines the supply of physicians, physician assistants (PA), and nurse practitioners (NP) practicing in primary care specialties (family medicine, general pediatric medicine, general internal medicine, and geriatric medicine).
While rural areas generally have lower primary care physician ratios than urban areas, the data show that NPs and PAs are important in providing primary care in rural areas. Approximately half of PAs were interested in practicing in rural locations (44%), Medically Underserved Areas (58%), or Health Professional Shortage Areas (54%).
New Health Workforce Projections Data Available
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recently released the latest projections for the national supply, demand, and distribution of health care workers. Use the Workforce Projections Dashboard to explore supply and demand trends by occupation, state, year, and more. Additionally, check out Health Workforce Projections for an overview of projections for different groups of workers, such as nurses and physicians, and details on our programs that seek to address future shortages.
Integrating Screenings in Substance Use Disorder Patients
The Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use and leader of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), as well as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), released a letter urging the public health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment communities to increase the number of people with SUD who are tested and treated for HIV and viral hepatitis. Integrating HIV and viral hepatitis testing in SUD treatment settings improves treatment initiation, especially when treatment is co-located. This concept is in line with SAMHSA’s 2023–2026 Strategic Plan, which prioritizes the integration of behavioral and physical healthcare.