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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Policy

Apr 22, 2025 - Notice from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) seeking comments concerning the National Household Survey on Disaster Preparedness, which identifies progress and gaps in individual and community preparedness and to better understand the motivational factors and barriers to preparedness that people face. Comments are due by May 22, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 21, 2025 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is seeking comments on the following information collections: 1) Creditable Coverage Disclosure to CMS On-Line Form and Instructions; 2) Essential Community Provider Data Collection to Support QHP Certification; 3) Transparency in Coverage Reporting by Qualified Health Plan Issuers; 4) Notice of Research Exception under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; 5) Student Health Insurance Coverage; and 6) Medicare Participating Physician or Supplier Agreement. Comments are due June 20, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 18, 2025 - Notice from the U.S. Census Bureau providing an additional 30 days for comments on the October 23, 2024, notice regarding American Community Survey (ACS) Methods Panel tests related to self-response. ACS Methods Panel is a research program at the Census Bureau designed to address and respond to survey issues and needs of the ACS. From 2025 to 2028, the ACS Methods Panel may test ACS and decennial census methods for reducing survey cost, addressing respondent burden, and improving survey response, data quality, and survey efficiencies for housing units and group quarters. Comments are due within 60 days of this notice.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 15, 2025 - 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, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) regulations to implement changes related to prescription drug coverage, the Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, dual eligible special needs plans (D-SNPs), Part C and Part D Star Ratings, and other programmatic areas, including the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. This final rule also codifies existing sub-regulatory guidance in the Part C and Part D programs. These regulations are effective June 3, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 15, 2025 -

Nominations are being accepted for the Endorsement & Maintenance (E&M), Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR), and Measure Set Review (MSR) committees. Eligible committee members include clinicians, healthcare facilities, purchasers, policymakers, researchers, patients, caregivers, and more. E&M committee members review and endorse clinical quality and cost/resource use measures to ensure effectiveness, safety, and that they are evidence-based. PRMR committee members recommend quality and efficiency measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. MSR committee members review measures for continued use in CMS programs and are selected from the PRMR committee. Nominations are due May 15, 2025.

Source: Partnership for Quality Measurement
Apr 14, 2025 - Pre-publication notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updating the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for fiscal year 2026. Includes proposals related to admission to hospice regulations and the hospice face-to-face attestation requirements under the certification of terminal illness regulations. This proposed rule also includes a technical correction to the regulatory text and provides updates to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program requirements. Among other things, this rule seeks comments regarding requests for information surrounding future measure concepts for Hospice Quality Reporting Program. Includes rural references and considerations throughout. Comments are due within 60 days of the publication of this notice, which is scheduled for April 30, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 14, 2025 - Pre-publication notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updating the FY 2026 prospective payment rates, outlier threshold, and wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), including psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or Critical Access Hospital. Includes a proposed revision to the payment adjustment factors for teaching status and for IPFs in rural areas. This proposed rule also proposes changes to measures used in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program and changes to update and codify the Extraordinary Circumstances Exception policy. Among other things, this rule seeks comments regarding potential future revisions to the IPFQR Program. Comments are due by June 10, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 14, 2025 - Pre-publication notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding changes to the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals for fiscal year 2026. Contains details of proposed changes related to Medicare graduate medical education (GME) for teaching hospitals; payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals; and certain quality programs, among other things. Comments are due by June 10, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 14, 2025 - Pre-publication notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeking comments on updates to the prospective payment system for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) for fiscal year 2026. Among other things, this rule proposes classification and weighting factors for the IRF prospective payment system's case-mix groups, continues the second year of the 3-year phase-out of the rural adjustments, and includes proposals for the IRF Quality Reporting Program. Comments are due by June 10, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 14, 2025 - Pre-publication notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would update the skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) payment rates for fiscal year 2026. Among other things, this rule includes proposals to update the requirements for the SNF Quality Reporting Program and the SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program. Comments are due by May 28, 2024. Comments are due within 60 days of the publication of this notice, which is scheduled for April 30, 2025.
Source: Federal Register