Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Medicaid

Investing in Primary Care: The Nurse Practitioner Will See You Now
Describes opportunities to support advancement of preparation and growth for nurse practitioners (NPs) to meet the population's primary care needs. Explores the importance of NPs in rural and underserved communities, and Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Author(s): Jessica McCann, Margaret Flinter
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
view details

Many Medicare Advantage and Medicaid Managed Care Plans Have Limited Behavioral Health Provider Networks and Inactive Providers
Examines the availability of behavioral health providers in selected Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicaid managed care networks in 2023. Analyzes provider network lists and MA and Medicaid encounter data for four MA and two Medicaid managed care plans from 10 selected urban and rural counties across five states. Describes the proportion of the behavioral health workforce in each county included in the plans' networks. Discusses the extent to which managed care plans had inactive providers in their network and why these providers did not deliver services to enrollees. Includes data on the percentage of inactive providers in rural and urban counties. Offers recommendations to monitor and improve the accuracy of provider networks.
Additional links: Report Highlights
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
view details

Transforming Rural Health Care Through Medicaid Innovation: Tip Sheet Series
Informational tip sheets discussing the use of Medicaid innovations to assist states in creating their Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program applications. Discusses behavioral health, school-based services, and integrated care access. Provides examples, strategies, Medicaid policy information, and resources.
Additional links: Improving Access to Integrated Care for Dually Eligible Individuals in Rural Areas, Leveraging Peers and Lay Counselors to Address Behavioral Health Care Workforce Shortages in Rural Areas, Using School-Based Services to Improve Access to Preventive Health Care for Children in Rural Areas
Author(s): Molly Knowles, Nancy Archibald, Karla Silverman, Lauren Scannelli Jacobs
Date: 10/2025
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
view details

Shifting Care Patterns: How Medicaid Policies Shape Family and Formal Care Use
Analyzes the impacts of Medicaid 1915(c) waivers on likelihood of receiving formal versus family care among adults aged 70 years and older with functional limitations, utilizing 2011-2019 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) data. Highlights the significance of waiver payments for family caregiving for population subgroups including Medicaid beneficiaries, rural residents, and people living with dementia.
Author(s): Johanna Thunell, Elise M Parrish, Katherine E M Miller
Citation: Alzheimer's & Dementia, 21(9), e70715
Date: 09/2025
view details

Best Practices for Implementing the Continuum of Crisis Services Under Medicaid and CHIP
Provides guidance for states to maintain a continuum of behavioral health crisis care for patients covered by Medicaid and CHIP. Details core elements of the continuum of crisis care and how Medicaid and CHIP function within that framework. Highlights considerations for rural communities.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details

Ambulatory Care for Individuals Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid
Compares ambulatory services utilization for more than 5.5 million dual and non-dual Medicaid and Medicare individuals. Describes the rural or urban status of the population studied as well as whether services were utilized in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Clinic (RHC), among other demographic and service related factors.
Author(s): Joshua M. Liao, Paula Chatterjee, Yueming Zhao, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
view details

Health Provisions in P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 Reconciliation Law
Provides an overview of the healthcare-related provisions of the July 2025 reconciliation law (Public Law 119-21). Offers detailed summaries of provisions that impact Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare, private health insurance, and rural health providers. Discusses the Rural Health Transformation Program.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
view details

Dental Care in Crisis: Tracking the Cost and Prevalence of Emergency Department Visits for Non-Traumatic Dental Conditions
Report explores non-traumatic emergency department visits for dental conditions. Tracks the cost and prevalence of incidents from 2019 to 2022. Includes a breakdown of incidents in rural, small or medium metro, fringe metro, and central metro counties.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
view details

Expanding Access to Integrated Medicare-Medicaid Programs in Rural Communities
Discusses the rural population who are dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid and their unique physical health, mental health, and health-related social needs (HRSNs). Includes information on dual eligibility issues related to access, integrated care, and managed care infrastructure. Provides a literature review and stakeholder interview feedback focused on potential strategies to improve healthcare integration.
Author(s): Molly Knowles, Nida Joseph, Nancy Archibald, Ellen Breslin
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
view details

Partners in Progress: Pursuing Medical-Dental Integration in Ohio
Report explores dental health integration into primary care in Ohio and a way to expand oral healthcare access in the state. Discusses access issues in rural area, shortage areas, among Medicaid recipients, and details how integration can help close the gap.
Date: 07/2025
Sponsoring organization: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health
view details