- 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
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Fiscal Year 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
- CMS: Request for Information; Health Technology Ecosystem
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2025 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program; and Medicare Overpayments; and Appeal Rights for Certain Changes in Patient Status; Corrections and Correcting Amendment
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2025 Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B Payment and Coverage Policies; Medicare Shared Savings Program Requirements; Medicare Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Program; and Medicare Overpayments; and Appeal Rights for Certain Changes in Patient Status; Corrections and Correcting Amendment
- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- State: 60-Day Notice of Proposed Information Collection: J-1 Visa Waiver Recommendation Application
300K+ New Data Points on the Appalachian Region Now Available
New data we released today (June 26, 2024) show that income, labor force participation and employment, educational attainment, and more continue to improve in Appalachia, while rates of poverty decline.
These new data come as part of our 14th annual update of The Appalachian Region: A Data Overview from the 2018-2022 American Community Survey, also known as “The Chartbook.”
Philly Fed Assesses Small Business Conditions in Region
For the third year in a row, more than half of small businesses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware said their financial conditions were poor or fair. Their top operational challenges? Hiring or keeping qualified staff. Reaching customers or growing sales. Supply chain issues.
Distilling data from the Fed’s national 2024 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2023 Small Business Credit Survey, these briefs offer a view into business conditions in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the Philadelphia metro, and the Third District states overall (Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania).
Additional findings from the survey for Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania:
- More firms said they experienced no change in their revenues between 2022 and 2023 than did between 2021 and 2022.
- Fewer firms carried debt, although about the same number of firms applied for loans, lines of credit, or merchant cash advances compared with the previous year.
Dental Publication Focuses on Integration of Behavioral Health and Oral Health
The Journal of the California Dental Association published a special issue focused on the integration of behavioral health and oral health. The issue discuses the bi-directional relationship, a framework for integrating behavioral health and oral health in predoctoral education, and resource to support the integration of behavioral health into dental settings.
New Resource: Using Public Health Hygienists in Health Centers
The Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) and the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH) created a resource for health centers interesting in adding a public health dental hygiene practitioner (PHDHP) to their team. The resource includes guidance on what PHDHPs are and are not permitted to do and information on employing a PHDHP in federally qualified health centers (FQHCs).
Closing of Rural Hospitals Leaves Towns With Unhealthy Real Estate
In March 2021, Jellico, TN, a town of about 2,000 residents in the hills of east Tennessee, lost its hospital, a 54-bed acute care facility. Campbell County, where Jellico is located, ranks 90th of Tennessee’s 95 counties in health outcomes and has a poverty rate almost double the national average, so losing its health care cornerstone sent ripple effects through the region.
“Oh, my word,” said Tawnya Brock, a health care quality manager and a Jellico resident. “That hospital was not only the health care lifeline to this community. Economically and socially, it was the center of the community.”
Since 2010, 149 rural hospitals in the United States have either closed or stopped providing in-patient care, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina. Tennessee has recorded the second-most closures of any state, with 15, and the most closures per capita. Texas has the highest number of rural hospital closures, with 25.
Each time a hospital closes there are health care and economic ripples across a community. When Jellico Medical Center closed, some 300 jobs went with it. Restaurants and other small businesses in Jellico also have gone under, said Brock, who is a member of the Rural Health Association of Tennessee’s legislative committee. And the town must contend with the empty husk of a hospital.
Dozens of small communities are grappling with what to do with hospitals that have closed. Sheps Center researchers have found that while a closure negatively affects the local economy, those effects can be softened if the building is converted to another type of health care facility.
Communicating Public Health to Rural Communities During a Crisis
The Georgia Department of Community Health offers a toolkit with links to comprehensive, accessible, and ready-to-use materials to provide local health department staff with information to improve communication efforts. The material places emphasis on challenges encountered in rural settings and targeted for use among county health department nurse managers, supervisors, and other public health staff.
Informational Bulletin: Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Monitoring and Oversight Tools
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the informational bulletin Medicaid and CHIP Managed Care Monitoring and Oversight Tools, including States’ Responsibility to Comply with Medicaid Managed Care and Separate CHIP Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Requirements. The bulletin will help states to improve the monitoring and oversight of managed care in Medicaid and CHIP by providing additional tools for the States. Additionally, this bulletin reminds States of Medicaid managed care and separate CHIP mental health and substance use disorder parity requirements. This is the fourth in a series of bulletins on increasing states’ monitoring and oversight of managed care.
CMS Seeks Feedback on Two Agency Information Collection Activities
– Comment by July 11. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks comments from the public on the following information collections: 1) Identification of Extension Units of Medicare Approved Outpatient Physical Therapy/Outpatient Speech Pathology (OPT/OSP) Providers and Supporting Regulations and 2) Conditions for Certification for Rural Health Clinics and Conditions for Coverage for Federally Qualified Health Centers in 42 CFR 491.
CMS Releases Final Rule on Prescription Drug Benefit and ONC Health Information Technology Regulations
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) addressed the remaining proposed policies from the November 15, 2025 Contract Year 2025 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program proposed rule. In this recent final rule, CMS revised the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D) and regulations to implement changes related to required standards for electronic prescribing and adoption of health information technology (IT) standards for Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) use. CMS will require Part D sponsors, prescribers, and dispensers of covered Part D drugs for eligible individuals to comply with standards CMS has either adopted directly or is requiring by cross-referencing ONC standards for electronically transmitting prescriptions and prescription-related information. These regulations are effective June 17, 2024.
New Information on Federal Financing of Medicaid IT for Behavioral Health
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an informational bulletin, in collaboration with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The guidance describes opportunities for state Medicaid agencies to receive enhanced federal matching rates for certain health Information Technology aimed at increasing access to behavioral health treatment and improving coordination of care for co-occurring physical health conditions, such as telehealth and electronic connections to Health Information Exchanges. It also reminds state Medicaid agencies how to apply for enhanced Medicaid matching rates for these types of expenditures. Medicaid is an important source of insurance in rural areas, and leveraging federal dollars can help rural communities expand their capacity to deliver behavioral health services.