Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health insurance
Aging in Place: The Vital Role of Home Health in Access to Care
Recording of a September 19, 2023, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee on Health Care hearing on access to home health services and the role of home health in supporting aging in place. Features testimony from Carrie Edwards, Director of Home Care Services at Mary Lanning Healthcare in rural Nebraska, and Tracy Mroz, Associate Professor at the University of Washington and Investigator at the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center.
Additional links: Carrie Edwards, Mary Lanning Healthcare - Testimony, Tracy M. Mroz, University of Washington - Testimony
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Health Care
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Recording of a September 19, 2023, U.S. Senate Committee on Finance Subcommittee on Health Care hearing on access to home health services and the role of home health in supporting aging in place. Features testimony from Carrie Edwards, Director of Home Care Services at Mary Lanning Healthcare in rural Nebraska, and Tracy Mroz, Associate Professor at the University of Washington and Investigator at the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center.
Additional links: Carrie Edwards, Mary Lanning Healthcare - Testimony, Tracy M. Mroz, University of Washington - Testimony
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Finance, Subcommittee on Health Care
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State Principles for Financing Substance Use Care, Treatment, and Support Services
Provides an overview of strategies to strengthen and finance evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and support services. Focuses on the role of public health to address SUD, the need for appropriate policy, and plans to reduce access issues and health disparities. Includes considerations and examples from rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Webinar
Author(s): Hadley Fitzgerald, Disha Williams
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Provides an overview of strategies to strengthen and finance evidence-based substance use disorder (SUD) treatment and support services. Focuses on the role of public health to address SUD, the need for appropriate policy, and plans to reduce access issues and health disparities. Includes considerations and examples from rural areas.
Additional links: Executive Summary, Webinar
Author(s): Hadley Fitzgerald, Disha Williams
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Addressing Social Needs through Medicaid: Lessons from Planning and Early Implementation of North Carolina's Healthy Opportunities Pilots
Results of a study to generate findings and recommendations from the planning, capacity-building, and early implementation of the Healthy Opportunities Pilots program. Focuses on the health-related social needs of North Carolina Medicaid enrollees living in three primarily rural regions of the state.
Author(s): Katie M. Huber, William K. Bleser, Rebecca G. Whiteaker, et al.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Milbank Memorial Fund
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Results of a study to generate findings and recommendations from the planning, capacity-building, and early implementation of the Healthy Opportunities Pilots program. Focuses on the health-related social needs of North Carolina Medicaid enrollees living in three primarily rural regions of the state.
Author(s): Katie M. Huber, William K. Bleser, Rebecca G. Whiteaker, et al.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, Milbank Memorial Fund
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Improving Hospital Transfers: A Step Toward Equitable, Patient-Centered Acute Care
Discuss emergency department (ED) transfers, including the importance of timely transfers, where patients transferred from the ED are more likely to initially present, and how transferred patients are considered in hospital quality metrics. Identifies three ways to incentivize hospital coordination to improve patient-centered care for transfer patients.
Author(s): Charleen Hsuan
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 09/2023
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Discuss emergency department (ED) transfers, including the importance of timely transfers, where patients transferred from the ED are more likely to initially present, and how transferred patients are considered in hospital quality metrics. Identifies three ways to incentivize hospital coordination to improve patient-centered care for transfer patients.
Author(s): Charleen Hsuan
Citation: Health Affairs Forefront
Date: 09/2023
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Evaluation of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model: Final Report
Evaluates the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which tests the impact of providing financial incentives to home health agencies in nine states: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. Examines how the financial incentives under the model influenced agency behavior. Describes impacts across key outcomes, including service utilization, quality of care, and patient experience, and examines the model's effects on access to care, health equity, and Medicare spending. Explores whether the model had unique impacts on access to home health care in rural areas.
Additional links: Appendices, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, L&M Policy Research
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Evaluates the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which tests the impact of providing financial incentives to home health agencies in nine states: Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. Examines how the financial incentives under the model influenced agency behavior. Describes impacts across key outcomes, including service utilization, quality of care, and patient experience, and examines the model's effects on access to care, health equity, and Medicare spending. Explores whether the model had unique impacts on access to home health care in rural areas.
Additional links: Appendices, Findings at a Glance
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organizations: Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, L&M Policy Research
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Health Panel Comment Letter - 2024 Physician Fee Schedule and Medicare Part B Proposed Rule
Comments offered in response to a July 13, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule revising the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Includes discussions on telehealth services, services addressing health-related social needs, advancing access to behavioral health services, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Comments offered in response to a July 13, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule revising the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Includes discussions on telehealth services, services addressing health-related social needs, advancing access to behavioral health services, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Telehealth Use and Experiences Among California Adults
Brief outlining 2021 telehealth use and satisfaction by various California populations. Includes usage by insurance type, race and ethnicity, primary language, and more. Data breakdown includes rural residence.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: California Health Care Foundation
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Brief outlining 2021 telehealth use and satisfaction by various California populations. Includes usage by insurance type, race and ethnicity, primary language, and more. Data breakdown includes rural residence.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: California Health Care Foundation
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Outpatient Prospective Payment System for FY 2024
Comment on the July 31, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ACS) payments for calendar year 2024. Includes discussions on extending the use of the hospital market basket to update ASC payment rates, a proposed quality measure for emergency department visits in Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs), and more.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Comment on the July 31, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ACS) payments for calendar year 2024. Includes discussions on extending the use of the hospital market basket to update ASC payment rates, a proposed quality measure for emergency department visits in Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs), and more.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Physician Prospective Payment System for FY 2024
Comment on the August 7, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve payment systems for physicians and other Medicare Part B revisions. Includes discussions on payment rates for Medicare telehealth services; the Medicare Shared Savings Program, including regional adjustments; incorporating Medicare Advantage data into public reporting; and more.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Comment on the August 7, 2023, Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve payment systems for physicians and other Medicare Part B revisions. Includes discussions on payment rates for Medicare telehealth services; the Medicare Shared Savings Program, including regional adjustments; incorporating Medicare Advantage data into public reporting; and more.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Further Extension of Grace Period Related to the "Four Walls" Requirement under 42 C.F.R. ยง 440.90 for Indian Health Service and Tribal Facilities to February 11, 2025
Guidance announcing the extension of a grace period permitting Indian Health Service (IHS) and tribal facilities to claim Medicaid reimbursement under the clinic services benefit for services provided outside of the "four walls" of the facility through February 11, 2025. Provides an overview of the history of this flexibility during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and previous guidance.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Guidance announcing the extension of a grace period permitting Indian Health Service (IHS) and tribal facilities to claim Medicaid reimbursement under the clinic services benefit for services provided outside of the "four walls" of the facility through February 11, 2025. Provides an overview of the history of this flexibility during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and previous guidance.
Date: 09/2023
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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