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Rural Health
News by Topic: Policy

May 26, 2026 - Notice from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announcing a virtual town hall meeting schedule to allow external stakeholders an additional opportunity to provide input on refining the scope and burden of the April 4, 2024, Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). Meetings are scheduled for June 15 – 18, 2026, from 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Registration is required.
Source: Federal Register
May 26, 2026 - Notice from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announcing the renewal of the charter for the President's Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. The Council advises the President on progress made in carrying out the provisions of Executive Order 14327, which aims to promote the economic, academic, and social benefits of youth sports, fitness, and nutrition. The charter is effective through May 8, 2028.
Source: Federal Register
May 26, 2026 - The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is seeking comments on a proposed extension for methodological field tests for the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The tests will continue to examine ways to increase data quality, lower operating costs, and gain a better understanding of sources and effects of non-sampling error on NSDUH estimates. Comments are due within 30 days of this notice.
Source: Federal Register
May 22, 2026 - Notice of proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services describing alternatives to modify the limit on the total payment rate and other requirements for State directed payments in Medicaid managed care. This rule also proposes to set a limit for certain targeted Medicaid payments in Medicaid fee-for-service. Includes rural considerations throughout. Comments are due July 21, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
May 22, 2026 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services making technical and typographical corrections to the April 14, 2026, proposed rule. Comments on the proposed rule are due by June 9, 2026.
May 21, 2026 - Announces proposed legislation to extend the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD) Program for 5 more years. RCHD allows for innovative hospital payment models to support rural facilities.
Source: Office of Representative Randy Feenstra
May 20, 2026 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is allowing an additional 30 days to comment on an information collections titled, "Developmental Studies to Improve the National Health Care Surveys," while it is being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget.
Source: Federal Register
May 20, 2026 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is seeking comments on the following information collections: 1) Administrative Requirements for Section 6071 of the Deficit Reduction Act; and 2) Medicaid Managed Care Quality Including Supporting Regulations. Comments are due within 60 days of this notice.
Source: Federal Register
May 20, 2026 - Notice of final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services containing methods to improve the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including payment parameters and provisions related to the HHS-operated risk adjustment and risk adjustment data validation (HHS-RADV) programs. Among other things, this rule also contains 2027 user fee rates for qualified health plans (QHPs) through Federally-facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) and State-based Exchanges on the Federal platform (SBE-FPs). This rule is effective July 20, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
May 19, 2026 - Congresswoman Kim Schrier of Washington, along with representatives Randy Feenstra of Iowa, Jill Tokuda of Hawaii, and Darin LaHood of Illinois have reintroduced the Rural Maternity Options for Medical Support Act. This legislation would allow Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to count labor and delivery beds separate from acute care rooms, allowing hospitals to offer these services without putting their CAH status in jeopardy.
Source: Office of Congresswoman Kim Schrier (WA)