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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Supporting the Mental Health Well-being of High School Students
Report evaluates the perceived need for school-based mental health services and the levels of access to those services by rural students and students of color. Bases results on surveys of high school students and makes corresponding recommendations. Compares the access to mental health services in rural, urban, and suburban schools.
Additional links: Infographic
Author(s): Michelle Croft, Shannon Hayes, Raeal Moore
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: ACT Center for Equity in Learning
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Expecting More: Addressing America's Maternal and Infant Health Crisis
Provides recording and witness testimony from the U.S. House of Representatives' Joint Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions and Workforce Protections Hearing on maternal mortality and disparities in maternal and infant care. Testimony includes some discussion of maternity care in rural areas.
Additional links: Joia Crear Perry Testimony, Stacey D. Stewart Testimony, Video of Hearing
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
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Opioid Use Disorder: Barriers to Medicaid Beneficiaries' Access to Treatment Medications
Examines Medicaid beneficiaries' access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. Identifies state and federal policies that can impose barriers to MAT medications. Highlights how 3 states and the District of Columbia are addressing these barriers. Discusses challenges to medication deliveries to rural and small practices and access to addiction medicine providers in rural areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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340B Drug Discount Program: Oversight of the Intersection with the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program Needs Improvement
Examines state and federal efforts to prevent duplicate discounts under the 340B and Medicaid Drug Rebate Programs and identifies limitations and weaknesses in federal oversight. Provides recommendations to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Health Resources and Services Administration to strengthen oversight of these programs.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Vermont Rural Health Services Task Force: Act 26 of 2019, Report and Recommendations
Report details Vermont's rural healthcare delivery system. Highlights the financial, administrative, and workforce barriers that rural facilities face and suggests ways the state can overcome those barriers.
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Health Services Task Force, State of Vermont: Green Mountain Care Board
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Maternal Morbidity among Women in Medicaid
Provides an overview of severe maternal morbidity and mortality (SMMM) among Medicaid beneficiaries. Presents data on SMMM rates by insurance payer, race/ethnicity, and geography, including differences among rural and urban residents. Presented by Dr. Katy Kozhimannil, director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, at the January 2020 MACPAC meeting.
Author(s): Katy B. Kozhimannil
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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VA Health Care: Efforts to Prioritize and Translate Research into Clinical Practice
Examines how the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) sets priorities for funding research, VA efforts to facilitate translation of research into clinical practice, and coordination between VA's research program and other parts of the VA. Briefly highlights a research study on the use of telemedicine outreach for rural veterans with PTSD.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Alternative Drinking Water Systems: Use by Very Small Communities, Related Cost Savings, and Technical Assistance Provided by EPA and USDA
Provides an overview of 5 alternative drinking water systems used by communities with fewer than 500 people and the barriers to implementing new systems and technologies in small communities. Describes factors that influence the costs and cost-savings of alternative drinking water systems. Identifies 4 federal funding programs that support technical assistance and training for small drinking water systems serving communities of fewer than 10,000 people.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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State Telehealth Medicaid Fee-For-Service Policy: A Historical Analysis of Telehealth: 2013-2019
Examines national and state-by-state trends in Medicaid fee-for-service policies regarding telehealth between 2013-2019. Highlights changes in expanded telehealth and telemedicine definitions, modalities that are reimbursed, and geographic limitations. Provides graphs and national maps throughout to supplement reported trends.
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
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Challenges in Providing Substance Use Disorder Treatment to Child Welfare Clients in Rural Communities
Provides an overview of the unique challenges rural communities face serving parents with substance abuse issues, including provider shortages, limited access to health insurance, transportation and technological barriers, and lack of routine cross-systems collaboration with the child welfare system. Offers strategies to overcome these challenges in rural communities.
Author(s): Elizabeth Clary, Christina Ribar, Elizabeth Weigensberg
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organizations: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Mathematica
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