The American Cancer Society and Color Health are working together on a program to bring free at-home colorectal cancer screenings to patients in rural areas, who often face barriers to cancer screening. This program is free for both participating health centers and patients. Color Health will provide health centers with free Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) kits for patients (up to 50 per site). Support to help navigate through this screening process will also be provided by Color Health. Patients and health centers will be notified of results and instructions for next steps. Even clinics not in a rural area but that serve rural patients are eligible. Any interested health centers can reach out to kacie.jankoski@cancer.org for more info.

In July, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released two pieces of guidance on provisions in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) of 2023. The first piece of guidance addresses new requirements around accurate, regularly updated, and searchable provider directories in Medicaid and CHIP. Medicaid agencies and managed care organizations will need to make these changes by July 1, 2025. The second piece of guidance discusses Section 5121 of the CAA, which creates a new requirement to provide screening, diagnostic, and case management services to “eligible juveniles” who are post-adjudication in correctional facilities. Medicaid agencies will also have the option, under Section 5122 of the CAA, to provide full Medicaid and CHIP benefits to incarcerated young people who are pre-adjudication.

The latest feature article in The Rural Monitor features four rural health care organizations describing the impact of their community health worker programs and strategies for sustaining them.

This campaign from the University of Rochester (UR) Recovery Center of Excellence developed an awareness campaign to address stigmatizing beliefs around substance use disorder (SUD) that can pose a barrier to care in rural communities.  The resource features perspectives of people in recovery from SUD as well as providers.  UR has one of three FORHP-supported Rural Centers of Excellence on Substance Use Disorder.

– Thursday, August 15 at 2 pm Eastern. The National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC) will host the free webinar with details on the recently released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Calendar Year 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule. This annual regulatory update contains Rural Health Clinic (RHC) specific proposals to eliminate productivity standards, remove hemoglobin/hematocrit from the six required lab services, reform care management billing, and allow RHCs to bill for administration of part B preventive vaccines at time of service, among others. Additional time for Q&A will be provided. Advanced registration is required.

On July 30th, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that provides updates to the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). This rule finalizes new HQRP quality measures; finalizes a new data collection instrument, the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE); summarizes responses to a request for information regarding potential social determinants of health (SDOH) elements; and provides updates on Health Equity activities, future quality measures, and public reporting requirements. The rule also finalizes changes to the Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (Hospice CAHPS) Survey.   This rule is effective October 1, 2024.

This brief from the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center provides an update to a 2016 analysis of the profitability of low-volume and non-low-volume rural Prospective Payment System hospitals under the Affordable Care Act’s qualifying criteria.

While pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a key tool to ending the global HIV and AIDS epidemic by 2030, recent data show that only 30 percent of the 1.2 million Americans who are candidates for the medication proven to reduce the risk of getting HIV are actually taking it.  A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed substantial differences in uptake by geography, race and ethnicity; what scientists call “PrEP deserts” are most commonly found in the rural South, where more than half of new HIV infections in the U.S continue to occur.  In this study, researchers recognize that inequity in care is likely attributed to social determinants of health and structural issues beyond individuals’ control.  They describe three approaches to potentially improve access in the South and in rural communities: 1) normalizing where providers prescribe PrEP routinely as a standard of care; 2) digitalizing, i.e., using technology, such as telehealth, as recommended in 2020 by the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services; and 3) streamlining care using guidelines from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Public Health Service to explore different approaches, such as on-demand PrEP and HIV self-testing.  See Learning Opportunities below for upcoming event addressing stigma in the rural Southeast.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has expanded services and continued to answer millions of calls, texts, and chats from people experiencing mental health or substance use crises since its launch on July 16, 2022. The Department of Health and Human Services has invested nearly $1.5 billion into 988 as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s comprehensive strategy to address the nation’s mental health and substance use crises.

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline crisis counselors answered more than 10 million calls, texts, and chats from people experiencing mental health or substance use crises in the two years since its launch, including almost 1.2 million calls answered by the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) through 988’s Press 1 option, one of the ways Veterans, service members and their families can reach the VCL. Considering the full range of VCL services, Veterans and their supporters have reached VCL through phone, online chat, and text over 2 million times since July 2022. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.