The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is providing additional time to submit comments for evaluation of potential impacts of access to drugs for patients under a new model for HRSA’s 340B Drug Pricing Program.
Comments on this notice should be received no later than April 20, 2026.
This brief provides an updated analysis of diabetes incidence, prevalence, and mortality across rural and urban counties.
The National Health Interview Survey (2021, 2022, and 2023) provided diabetes incidence and prevalence data. CDC Wonder provided diabetes mortality data.
This resource summarizes community asset-mapping, a collaborative process that identifies local assets – for example, funding or services or useful connections.
The tip sheet is a product of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Technical Assistance (RCORP-TA), a program funded through the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
Under this program, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) provides start-up funding to grant recipients to create accredited rural residency programs in a qualifying medical specialty. These residency programs are then sustained long-term through viable and stable funding mechanisms, such as Medicare and in states where there is a viable path of support, through Medicaid or other consistent state funding.
The current forecast estimates this funding opportunity will post on April 14, 2026. Historically, we have competed FORHP’s RRPD program annually. Three resources to help you prepare for this year’s competition before it posts:
Not having enough food may have had a greater negative effect on mental health in the United States than unemployment or loss of income during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study led by Penn State researchers.
The study, published in PLOS One, examined how loss of income or employment and food sufficiency impacted the mental health of Americans during the pandemic. The researchers found that not having enough food — or food insufficiency — was more strongly linked to poorer mental health than losing income, and both food insufficiency and lower income mattered more than unemployment alone.
The team also found that families that were already food insecure before the pandemic experienced much larger mental health effects than those who became food insecure once the pandemic hit.
Linlin Fan, associate professor of agricultural economics and co-author on the paper, said the results suggest that job loss alone may not be the best signal of who is struggling mentally during a crisis.
“During the pandemic, effects of unemployment on mental health may have been buffered by factors such as unemployment insurance and stimulus payments,” Fan said. “This doesn’t mean that unemployment is harmless, but rather that in a crisis like the pandemic, mental health effects may depend on whether families can still afford food and basic needs, rather than from job status alone.”
During the pandemic, the researchers said, many Americans faced several hardships at once, including job loss, lower income and trouble getting enough food. At the same time, rates of anxiety and depression rose. The team wanted to better understand which of these hardships mattered most for mental health.
Read more.
The Rural Health Value (RHV) team is pleased to announce the release of a new innovation profile “Sharing Resources and Working Together: The Rural Collaborative.” This network of 31 rural public hospitals in Washington state helps hospitals maintain their independence by sharing resources and working together, allowing them to better care for their communities and remain financially viable. Read more about their history and members, network operations and priorities, and their future plans.
Related resources on the Rural Health Value website:
Rural Health Value facilitates the transition of rural healthcare organizations, payers, and communities from volume-based to value-based health care and payment models. Visit www.ruralhealthvalue.org. See policy documents and demonstrations here or contact Clint MacKinney, MD, MS, Co-Principal Investigator, clint-mackinney@uiowa.edu
From the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs
On April 3, the Administration released several documents as part of the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) President’s Budget Request, which outlines the Administration’s funding priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. As a reminder, these documents are non-binding, and Congress has the authority to approve, reject, or modify the Administration’s budget recommendations.
The budget documents request $111.1 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a $15.8 billion decrease from enacted FY26 levels. Further, similar to the FY26 request, the documents propose to move the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), and select programs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) into a newly forming Administration for a Healthy America (AHA).
For additional information, please refer to these select FY27 President’s Budget documents:
The Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) presented this data report as an interim review of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment while awaiting the release of updated detailed Medicare enrollment data.
The MA rate of penetration (i.e., the proportion of Medicare enrollees in MA plans) in the United States has grown, since at least 2009, and surpassed 50 percent in 2023. While nonmetropolitan MA penetration has also grown steadily during that time, it has not yet passed the 50 percent level. Although MA penetration rates continued to grow in 2025, there were signs of a substantial slowing in the rate of growth. In 2025, over 22 percent of counties saw a decline in their MA penetration rate.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development launched a new Rural Development Eligibility Lookup Tool, which has been integrated into Rural Development’s Eligibility site.
This site now directs users to an eligibility mapping tool for the following programs:
The Rural Development Eligibility Lookup Tool enables user flexibility in determining programmatic eligibility based on their location across multiple programs simultaneously.
USDA Income and Property Eligibility Site:
https://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do
USDA Rural Development Eligibility Lookup Tool (direct link):
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/3c2f6c9581bb4f06a4ab68df8f34b0be
This consolidated view of eligibility represents a significant modernization in how Rural Development assesses and communicates program eligibility. By centralizing eligibility checks, utilizing current geospatial technology and adhering to modern data governance standards, the tool significantly reduces staff workload and improves engagement with rural communities.
This initiative supports Rural Development’s mission to provide efficient, transparent and accessible services while ensuring compliance with federal requirements and maintaining consistency with existing eligibility data sources.
If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.
USAging introduced a series of briefing papers, Health Happens at Home, which explore how community-based care fits into and strengthens the broader health care system. The briefing series will include the latest research and case studies showing that whole-person health is best supported when trained social care professionals meet people where they live—in their homes and communities. The series will also demonstrate the importance of integrating high-quality community care to drive better outcomes and lower costs across the healthcare system.
The first two briefings are now available, with four more to be introduced this year:
