Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Home Health Prospective Payment System for CY 2025
Comments on a July 3, 2024, Federal Register proposed rule related to Medicare payment policies for home health agencies. Includes comments regarding permanent and temporary budget-neutrality adjustments, the plan of care development and scope of services home health patients receive, and the proposed adoption of the core-based statistical area (CBSA) delineations for the home health wage index.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Comments on a July 3, 2024, Federal Register proposed rule related to Medicare payment policies for home health agencies. Includes comments regarding permanent and temporary budget-neutrality adjustments, the plan of care development and scope of services home health patients receive, and the proposed adoption of the core-based statistical area (CBSA) delineations for the home health wage index.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Advancing Health Equity through Primary Care Policy: Priorities and Recommendations for California
Provides policy recommendations to improve access to primary care and improve health equity in California, summarizing perspectives and conclusions from policy, primary care, and health equity experts who participated in the 2023 Summit on Primary Care Policy to Advance Health Equity. Covers topics including engagement with community organizations, workforce development, access to care, data sharing, payment, and accountability. Discusses people who live in rural areas and other underserved populations throughout.
Author(s): Diane Rittenhouse, Rebeckah Muratore, Alexandra Ament, Deliya Wesley, Katie Morrison Lee
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: California Health Care Foundation
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Provides policy recommendations to improve access to primary care and improve health equity in California, summarizing perspectives and conclusions from policy, primary care, and health equity experts who participated in the 2023 Summit on Primary Care Policy to Advance Health Equity. Covers topics including engagement with community organizations, workforce development, access to care, data sharing, payment, and accountability. Discusses people who live in rural areas and other underserved populations throughout.
Author(s): Diane Rittenhouse, Rebeckah Muratore, Alexandra Ament, Deliya Wesley, Katie Morrison Lee
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: California Health Care Foundation
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The Cross-State Licensure Continuum: Out-of-State Telehealth Provider Policies
Provides an overview of policy alternatives to full in-state licensure for telehealth providers adopted by states. Describes limited licensure exceptions, telehealth license or registration processes, and interstate licensure compacts, as well as limitations to these policies. Includes a chart indicating which, if any, policies and compacts each state has implemented as of July 2024.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
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Provides an overview of policy alternatives to full in-state licensure for telehealth providers adopted by states. Describes limited licensure exceptions, telehealth license or registration processes, and interstate licensure compacts, as well as limitations to these policies. Includes a chart indicating which, if any, policies and compacts each state has implemented as of July 2024.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
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Governor's Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce Report
Outlines a plan from a governor-appointed task force for growing the Wisconsin healthcare workforce. Highlights the current status of the healthcare workforce, and offers 10 recommendations and 26 action items related to education and training, recruitment and retention, and policy. Discusses rural throughout.
Author(s): Governor's Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
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Outlines a plan from a governor-appointed task force for growing the Wisconsin healthcare workforce. Highlights the current status of the healthcare workforce, and offers 10 recommendations and 26 action items related to education and training, recruitment and retention, and policy. Discusses rural throughout.
Author(s): Governor's Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
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Water Policy And Planning in Indiana: A 10-year Update
Reports on water supply, regional planning, and recommendations concerning water policy in Indiana. Includes county-level and regional data on water availability, water withdrawals, water governance, state plan examples, and more.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Indiana Chamber Foundation
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Reports on water supply, regional planning, and recommendations concerning water policy in Indiana. Includes county-level and regional data on water availability, water withdrawals, water governance, state plan examples, and more.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Indiana Chamber Foundation
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The Implicit and Explicit Exclusion of People with Disabilities in Clinical Trials
Reports on barriers for people with disabilities in participating in clinical research trials and offers recommendations to various federal agencies for removing those barriers. Discusses rural concerns including opportunities for participation due to distance.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Disability
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Reports on barriers for people with disabilities in participating in clinical research trials and offers recommendations to various federal agencies for removing those barriers. Discusses rural concerns including opportunities for participation due to distance.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Disability
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A Scoping Review of Policies to Encourage Breastfeeding, Healthy Eating, and Physical Activity among Rural People and Places in the United States
Scoping review of 122 studies, reports, and theses on breastfeeding, healthy eating, and physical activity policy, systems, and environment change initiatives in rural areas. Analyzes source design, objectives, setting, focus, results, and more. Summarizes research findings and discusses data collection and sharing for rural initiatives.
Author(s): M. Renée Umstattd Meyer, Bailey Houghtaling, Marilyn E. Wende, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 24, 2160
Date: 08/2024
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Scoping review of 122 studies, reports, and theses on breastfeeding, healthy eating, and physical activity policy, systems, and environment change initiatives in rural areas. Analyzes source design, objectives, setting, focus, results, and more. Summarizes research findings and discusses data collection and sharing for rural initiatives.
Author(s): M. Renée Umstattd Meyer, Bailey Houghtaling, Marilyn E. Wende, et al.
Citation: BMC Public Health, 24, 2160
Date: 08/2024
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Delivery of High-Speed Broadband Services in Unserved and Underserved Areas of the Commonwealth (Pennsylvania): Fifth Annual Report
Provides an update on the role of broadband in education, telehealth, agriculture, and community and economic development; barriers to development; and funding resources. Discusses developments in Pennsylvania state and local initiatives and efforts to identify unserved and underserved Pennsylvania communities.
Author(s): Yvonne Llewellyn Hursh, Bryan W. DeWalt, Lydia Hack, Allison N. Kobzowicz, Wendy L. Baker
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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Provides an update on the role of broadband in education, telehealth, agriculture, and community and economic development; barriers to development; and funding resources. Discusses developments in Pennsylvania state and local initiatives and efforts to identify unserved and underserved Pennsylvania communities.
Author(s): Yvonne Llewellyn Hursh, Bryan W. DeWalt, Lydia Hack, Allison N. Kobzowicz, Wendy L. Baker
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Joint State Government Commission, General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
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Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation: Summer Nutrition Status Report
Provides information on the use of federal nutrition programs in the summer of 2023, when COVID-19 waivers ended and normal operations resumed. Includes national and state findings, policy opportunities, and information about the the rural non-congregate meal option.
Author(s): Kelsey Boone, Crystal FitzSimons
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Food Research & Action Center
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Provides information on the use of federal nutrition programs in the summer of 2023, when COVID-19 waivers ended and normal operations resumed. Includes national and state findings, policy opportunities, and information about the the rural non-congregate meal option.
Author(s): Kelsey Boone, Crystal FitzSimons
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Food Research & Action Center
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FY 2025 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) Final Rule – CMS-1808-F
Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fiscal year 2025 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS) final rule. Includes information about the extension of the low-wage index hospital policy, a separate IPPS payment for small and independent hospitals to establish and maintain a buffer stock of essential medicines, the distribution of graduate medical education (GME) residency slots, updates to quality reporting programs, and more.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fiscal year 2025 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS) final rule. Includes information about the extension of the low-wage index hospital policy, a separate IPPS payment for small and independent hospitals to establish and maintain a buffer stock of essential medicines, the distribution of graduate medical education (GME) residency slots, updates to quality reporting programs, and more.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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