- Rural America Faces Growing Shortage of Eye Surgeons
- NRHA Continues Partnership to Advance Rural Oral Health
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
- Q&A: What Are the Challenges and Opportunities of Small-Town Philanthropy?
- HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson, Joined by Co-Chair of the Congressional Black Maternal Health Caucus Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, Announces New Funding, Policy Action, and Report to Mark Landmark Year of HRSA's Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces $60 Million Investment for Adding Early Morning, Night, and Weekend Hours at Community Health Centers
- Volunteer Opportunity for HUD's Office of Housing Counseling Tribe and TDHE Certification Exam
- Who Needs Dry January More: Rural or Urban Drinkers?
- Rural Families Have 'Critical' Need for More Hospice, Respite Care
- States Help Child Care Centers Expand in Bid To Create More Slots, Lower Prices
- Rural Telehealth Sees More Policy Wins, but Only Short-Term
- Healing a Dark Past: The Long Road To Reopening Hospitals in the Rural South
- Study: Obstetrics Units in Rural Communities Declining
- Q&A: Angela Gonzales (Hopi), on New Indigenous Health Research Dashboard
- Not All Expectant Moms Can Reach a Doctor's Office. This Kentucky Clinic Travels to Them.
Borne the Battle: VA Podcast for Veterans
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) launched this weekly podcast in 2016 to engage and reach out to veterans. Recent recorded episodes provide updates related to the Coronavirus, including how to manage debt and get access to benefits. Find more information here.
Comments Requested: Proposed Updates for FY 2021 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities – June 9
On April 14, CMS published the proposed rule for the FY 2021 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPF) Prospective Payment System (PPS). CMS proposes updates to the wage index and payment rates, including a payment increase of 2.4 percent or $100 million in FY 2021. Rural IPF providers will continue to receive a 17 percent payment adjustment and IPF payments are estimated to increase by 2.5 percent in rural areas. The rule also proposes to adopt the most recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) statistical area delineations and a 5 percent cap on wage index decreases for all IPF providers impacted by their wage index. Read more about it here.
Comments Requested: Proposed Rule for Hospice Providers – June 9
On April 15, CMS published a proposed rule for the FY 2021 Hospice Prospective Payment System (PPS). The proposed rule includes updates to the hospice wage index, payment rates, and cap amount for fiscal year (FY) 2021, including an overall 2.6 percent payment increase of $580 million. Rural hospice providers would experience an average 2.8% increase. The rule also proposes a 5 percent cap on wage index decreases and adopts the most recent Office of Management and Budget (OMB) statistical area delineations with 34 urban counties becoming rural and 47 rural counties becoming urban. Find more information here.
Comments Requested: Proposed Rule for Skilled Nursing Facilities – June 9
On April 15, CMS published a proposed rule for the FY 2021 Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Prospective Payment System (PPS). The proposed rule includes a proposal to update the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) delineations used to identify facility as an urban or rural and to calculate the wage index. CMS has proposed that 47 currently rural areas will become urban and 34 currently urban areas will become rural if the proposal is finalized. The rule also includes a S748 million payment increase to SNFs and non-CAH swing beds which rural SNFs will experience as an average increase of 2.5%. CMS also proposed several changes to coding used by the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) case mix system and the SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program (SNF VBP). Find more information here.
Summary of Medicare Emergency COVID-19 Waivers for Health Care Providers
CMS has temporarily waived several Medicare regulations to support hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The new waivers focus on reducing supervision and certification requirements so that practitioners can be hired quickly and perform work to the fullest extent of their licenses. This Fact Sheet summarizes the new changes in addition to previous waivers that impact all types of providers, including Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, physicians, skilled nursing facilities, and others.
Rural Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019
The Rural Health Information Hub has created a guide to help you learn about activities underway to address COVID-19. Find more information here.
Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties
The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis provides up-to-date data and maps on rural and urban confirmed cases throughout the United States. Find data briefs here. An animated map shows the progression of cases beginning January 21.
NCSL on COVID-19: Health Care in Rural America
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) focuses on rural areas in its podcast about state-level response to the pandemic. Find the podcast here.
RAND: Responding to Critical Care Surge Capacity
The RAND Corporation (Research ANd Development) included 61 rural hospitals in its survey of hospitals across the country about their capacity to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic. The report presents a range of strategies for creating capacity, including an online Critical Care Surge Response Tool that allows decision-makers at all levels — hospitals, health care systems, states, regions — to estimate current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it. Read more here.
USDA COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched an online list of federal resources for rural communities. Find more information here.