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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Legislation and regulations

Unfinished Harvest: The Agricultural Worker Protection Act at 30
Discusses the impacts of the 1983 Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (AWPA) on farmworkers' health, safety, housing, and more. Examines the law's historical and legislative background, interpreting court case provisions, and includes insights from leading farmworker advocates around the country.
Author(s): Megan Horn, Nicholas Marritz
Date: 12/2013
Sponsoring organization: Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc.
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Most Critical Access Hospitals Would Not Meet the Location Requirements if Required to Re-Enroll in Medicare
Recommends that CMS seek legislative authority to remove the permanent distance exemption for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) that currently have Necessary Provider designations.
Date: 08/2013
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Emergency Services and Telemedicine: Implications for Emergency Services Condition of Participation (CoPs) and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) On-Call Compliance
Memorandum clarifying the CMS Conditions of Participation (CoP) for Critical Access Hospital emergency services and Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) On-Call Compliance.
Date: 06/2013
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Public Health, Workforce, Quality, and Related Provisions in ACA: Summary and Timeline
One in a series of CRS products on the ACA (as amended by HCERA), summarizes the new law's workforce, public health, quality, and related provisions. Covers provision implications for rural areas.
Date: 05/2013
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Increasing Access to Behavioral Health Care Through Technology
Presents insights on establishing a telebehavioral health program shared at a meeting convened by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Office of Special Health Affairs with participants from HRSA-funded health centers in urban and rural areas.
Date: 02/2013
Sponsoring organization: Health Resources and Services Administration
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Streamlining Telemedicine Licensure to Improve Rural America
Provides information and statistics to support advocacy for and efforts to implement telemedicine cross-state licensure to improve healthcare access in rural America. Includes policy recommendations.
Author(s): Jarod Giger, Mary DeVany
Date: 02/2013
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Medicaid Handbook: Interface with Behavioral Health Services
Provides a basic understanding of the Medicaid program, specifically emphasizing the interplay between Medicaid principles and the provision of behavioral health services in both rural and urban settings.
Date: 2013
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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Poverty, Housing, and the Rural Slum: Policies and the Production of Inequities, Past and Present
Discusses the history of rural, low-income housing in California's San Joaquin Valley and the role of labor, housing, and public health policies within these communities. Details the historical challenges facing immigrant farmworkers and the contributing factors that enabled the creation of rural slums in that area.
Author(s): Sarah M. Ramirez, Don Villarejo
Citation: American Journal of Public Health, 102(9), 1664-1675
Date: 09/2012
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Compacts of Free Association: Improvements Needed to Assess and Address Growing Migration
Describes migration to the U.S. and its territories from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau. Discusses financial impact in Hawaii, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to provide services to these migrants, including health services.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 11/2011
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on the Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas: Final Report to the Secretary
Contains recommendations and documentation of the Negotiated Rulemaking (NRM) Committee to influence methodologies used to determine Medically Underserved Populations (MUPs) and Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs).
Additional links: Appendices and Addenda, Attachments
Date: 10/2011
Sponsoring organizations: Health Resources and Services Administration, Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Designation of MUPs and HPSAs
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