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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Rethinking Federal Investments in Rural Transportation: Rural Considerations Regarding Reauthorization of the Surface Transportation Act
Provides an overview of the scope of transportation investments in the U.S. Describes the impact of these investments on communities in regards to jobs, services, education, and healthcare in rural communities. Covers rural transportation policy recommendations.
Author(s): Brian Dabson, Thomas G. Johnson, Charles W. Fluharty
Date: 04/2011
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
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Rural Policy Implications for Health Insurance Exchanges
Presents policy recommendations from the National Advisory Committee regarding key provisions from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Date: 03/2011
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Rural Challenges for HHS in Implementing the Community-Based Care Transitions Program (CCTP)
Covers rural challenges for HHS in Implementing the Community-Based Care Transitions Program (CCTP). Recommends steps to more effectively assess those proposals that might be submitted for CCTP funding from rural areas.
Date: 03/2011
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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The 2011 Report to the Secretary: Rural Health and Human Services Issues
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services focused on rural childhood obesity, place-based initiatives for rural early childhood development, and rural implications of accountable care organizations and payment bundling. Includes recommendations to address these issues and provides appendices describing the 2010 site visits.
Date: 03/2011
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Place-Based Policies and Public Health: The Road to Healthy Rural People and Places
Identifies how the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) can influence the social determinants of health and contribute to the prosperity, equity, sustainability, and livability of rural places.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, A. Clinton MacKinney, Mario Gutierrez, Jocelyn Richgels
Date: 03/2011
Sponsoring organizations: Rural Policy Research Institute Human Services Panel, Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Farm Labor Housing Program Management and Oversight
Provides an overview of the Farm Labor Housing (FLH) Loan and Grant Program from 2010. Covers the demand for the FLH program, the processes Rural Housing Service (RHS) goes through to ensure quality housing for eligible farmworkers, and the financial status and fiscal management of FHL properties.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 03/2011
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2011
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Discussions of rural aspects of Medicare payment policies are included in the report.
Date: 03/2011
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Private Well Testing in Oregon from Real Estate Transactions: An Innovative Approach Toward a State-Based Surveillance System
Examines health problems caused by well water contaminants and reports increased risks in rural areas due to agricultural fertilizer use, feedlot operations, leaking septic systems, and aboveground application of wastewater. Compares Oregon's and New Jersey's laws concerning well testing and includes Oregon maps showing locations of private wells with high and moderate nitrate levels and evidence of coliform bacteria.
Author(s): Brenda O. Hoppe, Anna K. Harding, Jennifer Staab, Marina Counter
Citation: Public Health Reports, 126(1)
Date: 01/2011
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Home Health Study Report: Literature Review
Presents a literature search which was used as a background to aid the development of a study and report on potential revisions to the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS). Report includes rural populations.
Author(s): Judy Goldberg Dey, Margaret Johnson, William Pajerowski, Myra Tanamor, Alyson Ward
Date: 01/2011
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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MedPAC Report to Congress: Regional Variation in Medicare Service Use
Presents data on regional variations in Medicare spending and Medicare-covered service use, including for nonmetropolitan areas. Data used was adjusted to account for differences in small rural hospital and Critical Access Hospital Medicare payment rates.
Date: 01/2011
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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