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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Emergency Management: FEMA's Disaster Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Describes the disaster recovery efforts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to hurricane damage, including damage to hospitals and infrastructure. Discusses grant funding and recovery office establishment, and addresses the challenges in implementing the public assistance program.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Utilization of the 340B Drug Pricing Program in Rural Practices Policy Paper
Policy brief describing the 340B Drug Pricing Program with a focus on rural hospitals. Discusses the challenges with measuring its impact on rural hospitals and the program's benefits for rural communities.
Author(s): Austin Gillard, Dennis Shelby, Karen White
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Telehealth in Rural America
Policy brief focused on telehealth in the rural U.S. Addresses state and national policies related to insurance coverage of telehealth, infrastructure challenges such as broadband access, licensure issues, reimbursement, and other barriers to telehealth access.
Author(s): Windy Alonso, Elizabeth Crouch, Nicole Thorell
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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National Rural Health Association: Rural Veterans and Their Families Policy Paper
Policy brief focused on supporting the health of rural veterans and their families from a community-based systems perspective. Addresses public-private partnerships, faith-based solutions, leveraging the stories of veterans using media, and the financial and economic security of rural veterans.
Author(s): David Albright, Carter Florence
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Guidance to States and School Systems on Addressing Mental Health and Substance Use Issues in Schools
Report provides guidance to school systems and state governments about mental health and substance use in schools. Highlights examples of methods to identify and address mental health issues and substance use in schools. Discusses state-level Medicaid funding for behavioral health.
Author(s): Elinore McCance-Katz, Calder Lynch
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
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When Will the U.S. Territories Exhaust Federal Medicaid Funding?
Issue brief exploring the projected effects on healthcare expense funding in American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands if all sources of federal funding are allowed to expire in 2019. Features statistics for Medicaid funding and spending in the territories for fiscal year 2018, and sources of federal Medicaid funding and periods during which the funding is available.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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A Rural Health Crisis: The Changing Landscape of the 1980s and Beyond
Brief video overview of issues in the 1980s that resulted in a wave of rural hospital closures, including an economic shift from manufacturing, farm closures, and changes in the Medicare payment system.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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New Mexico Rural Health Plan
Presents the results of a rural health strategic planning project to develop recommendations for improving the health status and healthcare services in rural New Mexico. Report includes a definition of rural, a rural health priority assessment, identification of rural health priorities of local communities, and program and policy recommendations.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: New Mexico Department of Health
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Location of Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Addiction: In Brief
Examines the location of providers who offer medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder based on the location of providers with Drug Addiction Treatment Act (DATA) waivers and federally certified opioid treatment programs. Includes maps showing the location of both by county. Addresses the number of rural counties with no providers and policy options for rural access to MAT.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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How the Federal Government Supports State and Local Efforts to Improve Rural Health: A Q&A with Tom Morris
Provides a Q&A with Tom Morris, associate administrator of rural health policy at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Focuses on how government agencies are addressing rural hospital closures, population health, rural workforce development, and the opioid epidemic.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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