This website is being reviewed for updates. Some information is offline. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Hospitals – News

News stories from the past 60 days.

Aug 5, 2025 - Notice of a final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updating the FY 2026 prospective payment rates, outlier threshold, and wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), including psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or Critical Access Hospital. Includes a revision to the payment adjustment factors for teaching status and for IPFs in rural areas. These changes will be effective for IPF discharges occurring during the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026. This final rule also includes changes to measures used in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program and changes to update and codify the Extraordinary Circumstances Exception policy. These changes are effective October 1, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Aug 5, 2025 - Notice of a final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeking comments on updates to the prospective payment system for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) for fiscal year 2026. Among other things, this rule proposes classification and weighting factors for the IRF prospective payment system's case-mix groups, continues the second year of the 3-year phase-out of the rural adjustments, and includes proposals for the IRF Quality Reporting Program. This final rule is effective October 1, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Aug 4, 2025 - Notice of final rule from the Centers revising the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals for fiscal year 2026. This rule also makes changes related to Medicare graduate medical education (GME) for teaching hospitals; updates payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals; updates and make changes to requirements for certain quality programs; and finalizes certain updates to the ONC Health Information Technology (IT) Certification Program among other things. These final rules are effective October 1, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Jul 18, 2025 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is seeking comments on a proposed information collection project titled "National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)." This information collection is designed to provides facilities, states, regions, and the nation with data necessary to identify problem areas, measure the progress of prevention efforts, and ultimately eliminate healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) nationwide. Comments are due by September 16, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Jul 17, 2025 - Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making changes to the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and the Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) payment system for calendar year 2026, including changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the payment rates for Medicare services paid under the OPPS and those paid under the ASC payment systems. Among other updates, this rule also proposes updates related to the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program, Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting Program, Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program, Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating, and hospitals to make public their standard charge information and enforcement of hospital price transparency. Comments are due September 15, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 23, 2025 - Announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of the approval of The Joint Commission as a national accrediting organization for hospitals that wish to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid programs. This approval is applicable July 15, 2025, to July 15, 2030.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 17, 2025 - Announces the first cohort of the new Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP) consisting of 8 rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) across the U.S. RHSP is supported by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and administered by the National Rural Health Resource Center to provide technical assistance and recommendations to rural hospitals on financial assessments, operational performance, and opportunities to fill gaps and enhance healthcare services for the communities and populations they serve.
Source: National Rural Health Resource Center
Jun 16, 2025 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is seeking comments on a proposed information collection project titled "National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Respiratory Data." This information collection is designed to standardize the data elements collected from across the country regarding the impact of respiratory viruses on healthcare facilities. Comments are due by August 15, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 16, 2025 - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ) is seeking comments on a proposed information collection project titled "Monitoring Breastfeeding-Related Maternity Care—U.S. Hospitals." The Maternity Practices in Infant Nutrition and Care (mPINC) survey is a census of maternity care hospitals in the United States and territories to better understand national breastfeeding supportive maternity practices and changes in these practices over time. Information collected will be used to identify, document, and share information related to changes in practices processes over time at the hospital, state, regional, and national levels. Comments are due by August 15, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 11, 2025 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking comments on the following information collections: 1) Hospital and Health Care Complex Cost Report; 2) D-SNP Enrollee Advisory Committee; and 3) Administrative Simplification HIPAA Compliance Review. Comments are due by July 11, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Last Updated: 8/4/2025