Rural Long-Term Care Facilities resources via the Rural Health Information Hub

News: CMS: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 08:41:05 -0500

Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeking comments on the extension of an information collection titled "Physician Certifications/Recertifications in Skilled Nursing Facilities Manual Instruction." The physician certification and recertification is intended to ensure that the beneficiary's need for services has been established and then reviewed and updated at appropriate intervals and is a condition for Medicare Part A payment for post-hospital skilled nursing facility (SNF) care. Comments are due by July 10, 2026.

News: In Texas, Rural Nursing Homes Outperform Urban Facilities on Some Key Metrics

Wed, 27 May 2026 09:04:00 -0500

Analyzes Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) nursing home data to compare rural and urban staffing and health inspection ratings in Texas.

News: CMS: Medicare Program: Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2027 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction

Thu, 21 May 2026 16:28:39 -0500

Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services making technical and typographical corrections to the April 14, 2026, proposed rule. Comments on the proposed rule are due by June 9, 2026.

Resource: Changes in Staffing, Resident Health, Closure, and Financial Performance of Rural Nursing Homes from 2017 to 2022

Tue, 19 May 2026 10:51:21 -0500

Examines changes in various characteristics of nursing homes, using data from 2017-2022. Features statistics with breakdowns by metropolitan, micropolitan, and small/isolated rural areas. -- RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis

Resource: A Closer Look at Rural Nursing Homes

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:24:39 -0500

Compares characteristics of nursing homes in rural and urban areas including patient population data, distribution, and ownership. Also discusses payer mix, healthcare quality, and staffing levels. Highlights changes between 2015 and 2025 for some data. -- KFF

Resource: Nursing Facilities in Rural Areas

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 09:23:36 -0500

Offers a group of data tables comparing rural and urban data at the state level for a variety of distribution, payer, ownership, quality, and nurse workforce staffing indicators in certified nursing facilities. Data available annually between 2015 and 2025. -- KFF

Resource: Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among Nursing Home Residents and Health Care Personnel — United States, 2024–25 Influenza Season

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 13:22:55 -0500

Reports on influenza vaccination during the 2024–25 influenza season for nursing home residents and healthcare workers. Provides pooled influenza coverage data by facility for nursing home residents and for nursing home personnel, with data by urbanicity for metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas. -- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Resource: MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Skilled Nursing Facility Services: Chapter 7

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 13:36:42 -0500

Discusses payment adequacy for skilled nursing facility (SNF) services. Features statistics on SNF care provided by rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) via swing beds and Medicare margins for urban, rural, and frontier freestanding SNFs in 2024. -- Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

Resource: Rural-Urban Comparisons of Nursing Staff Turnover among Skilled Nursing Facilities

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 10:26:04 -0500

Results of a study assessing facility-level turnover rates for nursing personnel across levels of rurality and by region, using data from 14,986 facilities. Features statistics on turnover rates in 2022, with breakdowns by total nursing staff and registered nurses only, and by rural or urban areas. Also includes a county-level map showing average nursing staff turnover rates. -- University of South Carolina Rural Health Research Center

Resource: Nursing Homes Failed to Report 43 Percent of Falls With Major Injury and Hospitalization among Their Medicare-Enrolled Residents

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:44:58 -0500

Explores the extent to which falls with major injury that resulted in hospitalization among Medicare-enrolled nursing home residents were accurately reported by nursing homes in Minimum Data Set (MDS) assessments between July 2022 and June 2023. Compares the nursing home and patient characteristics associated with higher rates of unreported falls, including nursing home size, ownership structure, rurality, and overall star rating. -- Office of Inspector General (HHS)

Resource: FY 2026 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) Final Rule — CMS-1833-F

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 14:59:22 -0500

Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fiscal year 2026 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS) final rule. Includes information about the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program and the discontinuation of the low-wage index hospital policy for FY 2026 and subsequent years. -- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Resource: MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2025

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 10:45:22 -0500

Evaluates Medicare payment issues and provides recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Covers proposed reforms to the physician fee schedule updates and the accuracy of relative payment rates; supplemental benefits in Medicare Advantage; home healthcare use among Medicare Advantage enrollees; Part D prescription drug plans for beneficiaries in fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage; Medicare beneficiaries in nursing homes; the inclusion of rural providers in current Medicare fee-for-service quality reporting programs; and recommendations related to reducing beneficiary cost sharing for outpatient services at Critical Access Hospitals. Includes rural references throughout. -- Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

Resource: Home Healthcare Establishments Serving Rural Areas Increased about 36 Percent from 2010 to 2023

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 09:53:50 -0500

Chart showing the change for home healthcare services, assisted living facilities, and skilled nursing facilities in nonmetropolitan areas between 2010 and 2023. -- USDA Economic Research Service

Resource: As Older Rural Population Grew, Ratio of Rural U.S. Eldercare Establishments Fell

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 14:19:29 -0500

Bar chart comparing the number of eldercare establishments per 1,000 adults 65 or older in rural and urban areas between 2010 and 2023. Eldercare establishments include those that provide home health, long-term care, or assisted living services, as noted in the 2024 Rural America At a Glance report. -- USDA Economic Research Service

Resource: MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Skilled Nursing Facility Services: Chapter 6

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:36:41 -0500

Resource: Assessing Medicaid Payment Rates and Costs of Caring for the Medicaid Population Residing in Nursing Homes

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 09:27:15 -0500

Explores the relationship between Medicaid per diem payment rates to nursing homes and facilities' costs of providing care to Medicaid patients for facilities with a fiscal year ending on June 30, 2019. Examines the determinants of average cost and payment variations across each state. Presents data by facility-level characteristics, including ownership status, chain affiliation, rural or urban location, and more. -- HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Resource: Differences in Staffing for Non-Nursing Occupations Across U.S. Skilled Nursing Facilities During 2018-2023

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:36:12 -0500

Examines staffing supply for non-nursing positions in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), such as therapy, respiratory, pharmacy, social work, and more. Utilizes 2018-2023 data to analyze facility characteristics, community factors, staffing minutes per patient-day (MPPD), and percent contractor (PC) staffing. Provides MPPD and PC correlations with rural location, community social deprivation index, race/ethnicity of residents, and more. -- Center for Health Workforce Studies

Resource: Nursing Home Certificate of Need Moratoria During the COVID-19 Pandemic Had Little Impact on Access

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:51:19 -0500

Analyzes certificate of need (CON) moratoria and healthcare supply of skilled nursing facility (SNF) beds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizes 2015-2021 SNF cost report data to provide information on states that implemented CON moratoria, differences by rural versus urban counties, and impact on SNF bed supply.

Resource: Nursing Home Closures Did Not Increase in 2020 and 2021, Despite Financial Challenges Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 10:11:15 -0500

Provides an overview of the financial challenges and closures experienced by nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analyzes 2011-2021 data from 16,361 nursing homes, with breakdowns according to number of closures, staff shortages, COVID-19 infections, vaccination rates, closures by state and rural versus urban location, and more. -- HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Resource: Characteristics of People Using Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports, 2021

Wed, 28 Aug 2024 11:25:36 -0500

Presents data on the characteristics of individuals who used Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) in 2021, including age, dual-eligibility status, rural or urban residence, and race and ethnicity. Offers data on home and community-based service (HCBS) users by HCBS program and state plan option types and institutional service users by setting type. -- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Resource: Access to Care Report

Tue, 27 Aug 2024 11:40:56 -0500

Infographic highlighting access challenges for nursing homes between 2020 and 2024. Includes data on facility downsizing and closures, supply, and rural nursing home deserts. -- American Health Care Association

Resource: Standing Technical Expert Panel for the Development, Evaluation, and Maintenance of Post-Acute Care (PAC) and Hospice Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Measurement Sets: Summary Report

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 15:32:45 -0500

Describes a December 15, 2023, Technical Expert Panel (TEP) regarding the development of additional cross-setting measures for the Post-Acute Care (PAC) and Hospice Quality Reporting Programs (QRPs), and filling measurement gaps with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Universal Foundation measures. Summarizes TEP comments on adding measures to PAC and Hospice QRPs in four domains: 1) behavioral and mental health, 2) patient experience of care, 3) pain management, and 4) immunization. Covers panelists' discussions on the appropriateness of the existing measure set and potential new measures, setting-specific considerations, data sources, and other topics related to each domain. Includes rural references throughout. -- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Resource: Nurse Staffing Estimates in US Nursing Homes, May 2024

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 10:45:54 -0500

Provides an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) April 2024 final rule that established minimum nurse staffing requirements for nursing homes. Analyzes May 2024 data from Nursing Home Care Compare to examine current staffing levels in U.S. nursing homes relative to specific minimum staffing requirements in the final rule. Includes an illustrative example of a 100-bed facility to explore how many nurse staff would need to be added per shift during the final rule's implementation phase to meet or exceed the final rule's minimum requirements. Presents data by facility characteristics, including ownership type, rural or urban location, and bed size. -- HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

Resource: The Rural Nursing Home Landscape

Tue, 14 May 2024 10:48:08 -0500

White paper describing the current rural nursing home landscape. Cover the importance of nursing homes in rural communities, the characteristics of these facilities, and the importance of future research to understand and prevent future nursing home closures. -- National Rural Health Association

Resource: Infection Control Policies and Practices in Residential Care Communities by Selected Organizational and Geographic Characteristics: United States, 2020

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 09:44:47 -0600

Presents nationally representative data on the percentage of residential care communities with emergency operations plans that were specific to or include pandemic response, approaches to implement these plans, and infection control policies and practices in 2020. Compares infection control policies and practices by metropolitan status, community bed size, ownership status, chain affiliation, and whether the community has a designated space for dementia care. -- National Center for Health Statistics

Resource: Nursing Home Workforce Issues and Inequities

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 10:12:34 -0600

Offers an overview of issues related to the direct care workforce in nursing homes including staffing shortages, recruitment and retention, low wages, job training, interdisciplinary care, and more. Discusses proposed policies offering workforce-related reforms. Discusses rural throughout. -- AARP Public Policy Institute

Resource: Rural Long-Term Care Services and Supports

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 09:15:25 -0600

Policy position paper regarding challenges related to providing high-quality long-term care for older adults in rural areas. Describes how workforce shortages, long-term care financing, and administrative burden impact rural providers. Outlines policy recommendations for policy reforms to address these challenges and improve access to quality long-term care services. -- National Rural Health Association

Resource: Nursing Home Closures and Access to Post-Acute Care and Long-Term Care Services in Rural Areas

Tue, 16 Jan 2024 09:34:02 -0600

Examines distance to care for residents needing post-acute care (PAC) and long-term care (LTC) services. Analyzes nursing home closures from 2008 to 2018 and identifies closest PAC and LTC services in rural versus urban areas, with data broken down by population demographics, nursing home characteristics, and distance to providers.

Resource: Addressing the Direct Care Workforce Shortage: A Bipartisan Call to Action

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 18:23:23 -0600

Report discusses direct care worker shortages throughout the country. Details shortages of home health aids, certified nursing assistants, and residential care aids, among other direct care workers, and makes recommendations for decreasing shortages. Highlights some of the added barriers faced by rural communities. -- Bipartisan Policy Center

Resource: Nursing Home Staffing Study: Comprehensive Report

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 11:28:33 -0500

Examines the level and type of staffing needed to promote acceptable nursing home quality and safety. Explores the potential implications and feasibility of increased staffing and costs to nursing homes. Presents four options for minimum staffing requirements and their cost, quality, and safety impacts. Includes rural references and considerations throughout. -- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services