Rural Health
News by Topic: Pharmacy and prescription drugs
Apr 28, 2026 - Discusses the implementation of prescription benefit information in electronic health records among rural providers. Discusses federal policy work to ease challenges with using health technology in rural practices.
Source: GovCIO Media & Research
Apr 26, 2026 - The Veterans Affairs' TelePharmacy program, available in selected areas across the country, gives remote access to veterans who live in areas without a pharmacy specialist. The My HealtheVet app can be used to verify appointment times, refill prescriptions, and send secure messages to patients' VA care teams.
Source: VA News
Apr 14, 2026 - Notice of proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) proposing to improve the electronic exchange of healthcare data and streamline processes related to prior authorization by increasing the interoperability of systems used across the healthcare industry. Among other things, this rule proposes new requirements for Medicare Advantage (MA) organizations, state Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) programs, state Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) FFS programs, Medicaid managed care plans, CHIP managed care entities, and Qualified Health Plan (QHP) issuers on the Federally-facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) to make electronic prior authorization for drugs available; to report their application programming interfaces (API) endpoints and related information for the Patient Access, Provider Directory, Provider Access, Payer-to-Payer, and Prior Authorization APIs to CMS; and extend many existing interoperability requirements for the prior authorization of non-drug items and services to include prior authorizations for drugs. In addition, ONC proposes adopting updated versions of certain health information technology (health IT) standards and specifications for HHS use. Comments are due by June 15, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 14, 2026 - EMS crews in rural Hawkins County, Tennessee can now carry antibiotics in ambulances. This allows them to treat sepsis, one of the leading causes of hospitalization in Hawkins County, before reaching the emergency room.
Source: WPLN
Apr 6, 2026 - Notice of final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revising the Medicare Advantage (Part C), Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D), Medicare cost plan regulations. Among other things, this rule finalizes revisions related to Star Ratings, marketing and communications, drug coverage, enrollment processes, special needs plans, and other programmatic areas for contract year 2027. These regulations are effective June 1, 2026, and are applicable to coverage beginning January 1, 2027.
Source: Federal Register
CMS: Notice of Public Data Asset Release Under the Open, Public, Electronic, and Necessary (OPEN) Government Data Act
Federal Register
Apr 6, 2026 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announcing the forthcoming release of the following public data assets in open, machine-readable formats under an open license, with utilization and payment data aggregated by provider and service: Original Medicare Physician & Other Practitioners; Original Medicare Inpatient Hospitals; Original Medicare Outpatient Hospitals; Medicare Part D Prescribers; Original Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Devices and Supplies (DMEPOS) by referring provider and service; DMEPOS by supplier and service; and Medicaid Provider Spending.
Source: Federal Register
DEA: Registering Emergency Medical Services Agencies Under the Protecting Patient Access to Emergency Medications Act of 2017
Federal Register
Apr 1, 2026 - Notice from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) making technical corrections to the February 5, 2026, final rule.
Source: Federal Register