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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Legislation and regulations

Calendar Year (CY) 2015 Rural Health Clinic (RHC) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) Updates: Payment Rate Increases for RHCs and FQHCs Billing Under the All-Inclusive Rate System (AIR), and Urban and Rural Designations for FQHCs Billing Under the AIR
Provides updates for RHCs and FQHCs that are submitting claims to Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) for services to Medicare beneficiaries.
Date: 12/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Health Subcommittee Hearing: "Legislative Proposals to Support Patient Access to Telehealth Services"
Recording of an April 10, 2024, House Energy & Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health, hearing on legislative proposals that would support patients' access to telehealth services. Discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic-era regulatory flexibilities on telehealth use and access to care.
Additional links: Ateev Mehrotra, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center - Testimony, Hearing Memorandum
Date: 04/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health
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Medicare Payment for Rural or Geographically Isolated Hospitals
Displays data on Medicare payment adjustments for Sole Community Hospitals, Medicare-Dependent Hospitals, Low-Volume Hospitals, and Critical Access Hospitals. Includes information on the number of qualifying hospitals by state and eligibility criteria.
Date: 04/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Interim Final Rule on Non-Congregate Summer Meals: What It Means for You This Summer
A recorded webinar that discusses the interim final rule (IFR) on non-congregate summer meals in rural areas. Provides information on definitions, eligibility, and allowable models and flexibilities.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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Successful Non-Congregate Meal Service Models for Rural Areas: Implementation Guide (2024 Update)
Provides models that inform implementation of non-congregate meal services in rural areas. Includes background on policy decisions and legislative definitions.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: No Kid Hungry
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Home Cooked: A 50-Year History of Meth in America
Podcast series presents a discussion on the history of the use, production, and proliferation of methamphetamine in the U.S. The 5-episode series explores how the social perception of meth in America compares with the reality of its use throughout the 20th and 21st centuries and how this has affected rural communities.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Assembly, The Daily Yonder
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Home Cooked: A 50-Year History of Meth in America - Ep. 3: Lab School
Podcast series presents a discussion on the history of the use, production, and proliferation of methamphetamine in the U.S. Episode 3 discusses the home meth lab surge in the rural Midwest and how this changed the distribution and policing of the illicit meth market.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Assembly, The Daily Yonder
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Home Cooked: A 50-Year History of Meth in America - Ep. 2: Made in the U.S.A.
Podcast series presents a discussion on the history of the use, production, and proliferation of methamphetamine in the U.S. Episode 2 discusses the history of legal methamphetamine production and use in the 1930s and follows the drug's production and distribution post-criminalization.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Assembly, The Daily Yonder
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Addressing the Shortage of Direct Care Workers: Insights from Seven States
Brief assessing efforts for strengthening and identifying federal policy opportunities related to the direct care workforce through interviews with 20 stakeholders in 7 states. Discusses federal funding, collaboration, workforce pipelines, equity, credentials, training, family caregivers, and home- and community-based services. Discusses rural throughout.
Author(s): Barbara Lyons, Molly O'Malley Watts
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Mandated Report: Rural Emergency Hospitals: Chapter 15
Provides an overview of the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation. Discusses the evolution of Medicare's support for rural hospitals through payment policies and the impact of declining inpatient volumes on rural hospitals' financial sustainability. Describes the characteristics of hospitals that converted to REH status in 2023, the first year of the designation.
Date: 03/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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