Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Service delivery models
Compacts of Free Association: VA Is Pursuing Partial Implementation of Health Care Authorities in the Freely Associated States
Explores challenges veterans in the Freely Associated States (FAS) - Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau - face in obtaining healthcare benefits and services. Discusses analyses completed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assess the implementation of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024, which gave VA discretionary authority to expand healthcare services to eligible veterans in the FAS by providing hospital care, medical services, and beneficiary travel payments.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Explores challenges veterans in the Freely Associated States (FAS) - Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau - face in obtaining healthcare benefits and services. Discusses analyses completed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to assess the implementation of the Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2024, which gave VA discretionary authority to expand healthcare services to eligible veterans in the FAS by providing hospital care, medical services, and beneficiary travel payments.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Connecting Rural Communities to Hepatitis C Treatment Through Telehealth: Lessons Learned from the Maryland ACCESS Telehealth Program
Discusses how Maryland's Washington and Allegany County Health Departments implemented a telehealth program providing hepatitis C treatment in rural areas in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University. Details rural barriers to accessing care and describes implementation successes and challenges.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Discusses how Maryland's Washington and Allegany County Health Departments implemented a telehealth program providing hepatitis C treatment in rural areas in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University. Details rural barriers to accessing care and describes implementation successes and challenges.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Association of County and City Health Officials
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Mental Health Care Access in Rural Communities amid the Expansion of Telehealth
Analyzes National Health Interview Survey and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to explore how mental healthcare access has changed for rural and urban residents as telehealth services have expanded. Discusses findings regarding publicly insured, privately insured, and self-pay patients.
Author(s): Anja Gruber, Anders Van Sandt, Scott Loveridge, Craig Carpenter, Cris Meier
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 4(9)
Date: 09/2026
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Analyzes National Health Interview Survey and Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data to explore how mental healthcare access has changed for rural and urban residents as telehealth services have expanded. Discusses findings regarding publicly insured, privately insured, and self-pay patients.
Author(s): Anja Gruber, Anders Van Sandt, Scott Loveridge, Craig Carpenter, Cris Meier
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 4(9)
Date: 09/2026
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Increasing Access to Rural Behavioral Health Care Through a Community-Based Workforce
Provides examples for improving access to behavioral healthcare via a community-based workforce in rural areas. Discusses behavioral health workforce needs in rural communities, prioritizing relationship building alongside formal training, promoting conditions for peer support specialists to thrive, integrating community-based roles into clinical teams and community settings, and leveraging the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) and other time-limited funds to build long-term sustainability.
Author(s): Hadley Fitzgerald, Ashley Jasko
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Provides examples for improving access to behavioral healthcare via a community-based workforce in rural areas. Discusses behavioral health workforce needs in rural communities, prioritizing relationship building alongside formal training, promoting conditions for peer support specialists to thrive, integrating community-based roles into clinical teams and community settings, and leveraging the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) and other time-limited funds to build long-term sustainability.
Author(s): Hadley Fitzgerald, Ashley Jasko
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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Veterans Health Care: Information on Eligibility for and Use of Dental Benefits
Provides an overview of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) dental benefits and eligibility. Describes the number and percentage of VHA-enrolled veterans who were eligible for VA dental benefits between 2020 and 2025. Presents data by demographic characteristics, including age and rural residence. Explores the potential effect of expanding eligibility for VA dental benefits to all veterans with a heart disease diagnosis. Appendix I discusses VHA's use of teledentistry between 2020 and 2025, including the number and percentage of VHA facilities, by facility type and rurality, that provided at least one dental visit by teledentistry.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Provides an overview of Veterans Health Administration (VHA) dental benefits and eligibility. Describes the number and percentage of VHA-enrolled veterans who were eligible for VA dental benefits between 2020 and 2025. Presents data by demographic characteristics, including age and rural residence. Explores the potential effect of expanding eligibility for VA dental benefits to all veterans with a heart disease diagnosis. Appendix I discusses VHA's use of teledentistry between 2020 and 2025, including the number and percentage of VHA facilities, by facility type and rurality, that provided at least one dental visit by teledentistry.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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An Academic-Community Partnership Model for the Virtual Dental Home
Describes the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)-Smile Keepers virtual dental home program, a collaboration which operated from 2021-2025 and offered school-based teledentistry services. Explores ways in which similar programs can help close access gaps for children in rural and underserved areas.
Author(s): Manwa Hegde, Katie Conklin, Rachel Howard, et al.
Citation: Journal of the California Dental Association, 54(1), 2719416
Date: 09/2026
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Describes the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)-Smile Keepers virtual dental home program, a collaboration which operated from 2021-2025 and offered school-based teledentistry services. Explores ways in which similar programs can help close access gaps for children in rural and underserved areas.
Author(s): Manwa Hegde, Katie Conklin, Rachel Howard, et al.
Citation: Journal of the California Dental Association, 54(1), 2719416
Date: 09/2026
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Rural Hospitals: Policy and Infrastructure Opportunities in the Rural Health Transformation Program
Describes state Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) initiatives and investments intended to support rural hospital stability. Covers policies to stabilize rural hospitals through operational modernization, shared services, and targeted technical assistance; regionalization and hub-and-spoke care models; care delivery transformation; maternal and perinatal healthcare access; health information technology advances and interoperability; and more.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Describes state Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) initiatives and investments intended to support rural hospital stability. Covers policies to stabilize rural hospitals through operational modernization, shared services, and targeted technical assistance; regionalization and hub-and-spoke care models; care delivery transformation; maternal and perinatal healthcare access; health information technology advances and interoperability; and more.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
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Historical State Actions Aligned with Approved RHTP Uses
Describes state legislation enacted to address rural health topics that coincide with priorities of the Rural Health Transformation Program, including chronic disease management, the healthcare workforce, emergency medical services, health technology, behavioral health, and healthcare payment.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Describes state legislation enacted to address rural health topics that coincide with priorities of the Rural Health Transformation Program, including chronic disease management, the healthcare workforce, emergency medical services, health technology, behavioral health, and healthcare payment.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Opportunities for a Healthier Rural America: Perspectives from the Rural Health Research Centers
Several Rural Health Research Center directors share insights on the challenges rural communities face and opportunities to improve access and outcomes.
Author(s): Jessica Rosencrans
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Several Rural Health Research Center directors share insights on the challenges rural communities face and opportunities to improve access and outcomes.
Author(s): Jessica Rosencrans
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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From Innovation to Implementation: Replicable Community-Based Care Models for Aging in Place
Offers 6 domains influencing feasibility, sustainability, and adaptability for community-based long-term care models, drawn from more than 60 programs. Includes analysis of 3 of those programs including 1 rural North Dakota program. More rural programs are highlighted in Table 3.
Author(s): Brendan Flinn, Cleanthe (Cleo) Kordomenos, Giselle Torralba, Alondra Janicek, Tyler Cromer
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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Offers 6 domains influencing feasibility, sustainability, and adaptability for community-based long-term care models, drawn from more than 60 programs. Includes analysis of 3 of those programs including 1 rural North Dakota program. More rural programs are highlighted in Table 3.
Author(s): Brendan Flinn, Cleanthe (Cleo) Kordomenos, Giselle Torralba, Alondra Janicek, Tyler Cromer
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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