Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

2012 Rural Medicare Advantage Quality Ratings and Bonus Payments
Analyzes differences in rural Medicare Advantage (MA) quality ratings and payments and suggests reasons why quality ratings vary by geography. Compares the quality rating of MA plans in rural areas to urban areas and discusses differences in the composition of MA market enrollment and plan availability. Addresses the potential impact of quality bonus payments on MA plan quality.
Author(s): Leah Kemper, Abigail R. Barker, Timothy D. McBride, Keith Mueller
Date: 01/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Compacts of Free Association: Actions Needed to Improve Oversight and Accountability of U.S. Assistance to Micronesia and the Marshall Islands
Testimony before a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee regarding Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands spending of compact sector funds in the education and health sectors for fiscal years 2007 through 2011.
Additional links: Full Report
Author(s): David Gootnick
Date: 01/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Indian Health Care: Impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA)
Summarizes key changes made in the re-authorization of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act (IHCIA), including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions related to American Indians and Alaska Natives enrolled in and receiving services from Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Date: 01/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
view details
Not Enough Primary-Care Doctors? Try Missouri's Prescription
Describes how medical school graduates are legally allowed to work as assistant physicians in rural and underserved areas of Missouri without having completed a residency program. Discusses legislation that allows medical school graduates to become practicing assistant physicians and practice requirements.
Author(s): Arthur L. Caplan
Citation: Missouri Medicine, 111(6), 474-475
Date: 2014
Type: Document
view details
The Role of Community Health Centers in Assessing the Social Determinants of Health for Planning and Policy: The Example of Frontier New Mexico
Discusses the use of the Tool for Health and Resilience in Vulnerable Environments (THRIVE) by a frontier-based community health center in New Mexico for evaluating and addressing social determinants of health.
Author(s): Sean Bruna, Lisa Cacari Stone, Susan Wilger, Jeremy Cantor, Carolina Guzman
Citation: Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, 37(3), 258-268
Date: 2014
Type: Document
view details
Revisiting Poverty in Rural America
Shows the geography of poverty in the U.S. and describes how rural communities helped shape the federal response to poverty in the 50 years since the War on Poverty.
Author(s): James P. Ziliak
Date: 2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Housing Assistance Council
view details
Evaluation of the Medicare Frontier Extended Stay Clinic Demonstration: Report to Congress
Reports on the results of a Medicare Frontier Extended Stay Clinic (FESC) demonstration project that used an enhanced clinic model in frontier areas to address the needs of seriously ill or injured patients who could not be transferred to a hospital or needed monitoring and observation for a limited period of time. Includes an overview of the demonstration and key findings from the project.
Date: 2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
view details
Migrant Health Newsline: Commemorative Issue
Final and commemorative issue examining the migrant health movement in the U.S. Includes reprints of past articles about the history of migrant health, the creation of the Migrant Health Program, the Migrant Health Act, and other legislation increasing access to healthcare for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.
Date: 2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Farmworker Health
view details
Indian Health Service: Opportunities May Exist to Improve the Contract Health Services Program
Examines the challenges involved with timely payments from the Indian Health Service's (IHS) Contract Health Services Program for the care of American Indians and Alaska Natives. Covers IHS's performance measures and other factors that impact the length of time between the provision of healthcare services and IHS Contract Health Services Program reimbursements to providers.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2013
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Rural Primary Care Physician Workforce Expansion: An Opportunity for Bipartisan Legislation
Recommends expansion of graduate medical education (GME) support in teaching health centers (THCs) as a way to address the shortage of rural primary care physicians. Proposes an expanded version of the community health center and academic medicine partnerships (CHAMP) model that would help in the development of rural THCs.
Author(s): Richard E. Rieselbach, Robert L. Phillips, Thomas J. Nasca, Byron J. Crouse
Citation: Journal of Graduate Medical Education, 5(4), 556-559
Date: 12/2013
Type: Document
view details