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Rural Health
News by Topic: Policy

Oct 6, 2026 - Notice of final rule from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of the Treasury, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Department of Labor (DOL), Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) amending regulations under the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code regarding price transparency reporting requirements for non-grandfathered group health plans and health insurance issuers offering non-grandfathered group and individual health insurance coverage. These final rules aim to improve the standardization, accuracy, and accessibility of public pricing disclosures in line with the goals of Executive Order 14221. These regulations are effective December 7, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 6, 2026 - Notice of final rule from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Department of Commerce and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. Department of Transportation removing regulations related to the 911 Grant Program because the program is no longer active and there have been no new appropriations to revive or extend it. Authorization for the program expired on October 1, 2022, and the Public Safety Trust Fund that funded the program was not extended past fiscal year 2022. All projects funded by the program have been closed out and no open grants or applications exist. This rule is effective October 6, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 6, 2026 - Notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), on behalf of the Federal Interagency Committee on Emergency Medical Services (FICEMS), seeking comments on the nationwide implementation of prehospital blood transfusion. Specifically, NHTSA seeks comments on strategies, barriers, and solutions to advance prehospital blood transfusion capabilities across state, local, tribal, and territorial emergency medical services (EMS) and 911 systems. Includes questions to which NHTSA is seeking responses. Comments are due by November 5, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 5, 2026 - Notice from the U.S. Census Bureau extending the comment period for the September 10, 2026, proposed rule. Comments are now due November 2, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 5, 2026 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeking comments on the proposed revision of an information collection titled "Medicare Health Outcomes Survey." The Medicare Health Outcomes Survey is a longitudinal patient-reported outcome measure that assesses self-reported beneficiary quality of life and daily functioning and allows CMS to assess the health of the Medicare Advantage population. Comments are due by December 4, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 5, 2026 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making technical corrections to the August 13, 2026, advisory notice. This correction is effective August 13, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 5, 2026 - Describes bipartisan legislation to extend the reporting deadline for Indian Health Service (IHS) patients who seek emergency care from non-IHS facilities. The bill would increase the deadline from 72 hours to 15 days for most patients. Older adults and people with disabilities would continue to have a 30-day deadline as the current law allows.
Source: Office of Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
Oct 2, 2026 - Notice from the U.S. Census Bureau announcing its intent to share business data with the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) of the Department of Commerce. The Census Bureau will share data collected through surveys that request voluntary response and that impose no legal obligation to supply information. BEA will use select data from the Census Bureau's economic surveys to achieve efficiencies and increased accuracy in the preparation of U.S. economic statistics. The data sharing is effective October 2, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 2, 2026 - Notice of final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implementing the Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing Model (GLOBE Model), a new Medicare payment model under section 1115A of the Social Security Act. The GLOBE Model would test whether a payment model that uses an alternative method for calculating Part B inflation rebate amounts for certain separately payable Part B drugs and biological products reduces costs for Original Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries and the Medicare program while preserving quality of care. This rule also summarizes and responds to comments received on the December 23, 2025, proposed rule, including the potential impact of this model on small rural hospitals. These regulations are effective November 30, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Oct 2, 2026 - Executive Order from the Office of the President directing executive departments and agencies to use "Super Intelligence" and "SI" in place of "Artificial Intelligence" and "AI" in public correspondence, communications, and documents to the maximum extent permitted by law. This Executive Order also directs the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology (APST), in consultation with the heads of other agencies, to submit proposed legislative language to establish a federal definition of "Super Intelligence."
Source: Federal Register