Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Access

Jul 1, 2024 - The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is allowing an additional 30 days for comments on proposed updates to the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) – Household and Medical Provider Components (MEPS-HC). Proposed changes include wording changes that will help identify telehealth utilization and access, as well as maintain consistency between Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems 5.1 and MEPS-HC questionnaire items. Comments are due by July 31, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Jul 1, 2024 - Nonprofit organization Teen Turf and the Ogle County Health Department in Illinois have partnered to create 4 rural mini food centers, where food is available 24/7. Funding for the project came from a 3-year grant providing $500,000 each year, and also supports education, a community garden, and gardening classes in collaboration with University of Illinois Extension.
Source: The Amboy News
Jun 29, 2024 - Describes Snohomish County, Washington's "community conversations" program, providing information about opioid use misconceptions and stigma. The events are part of Snohomish County's efforts to address racial, income and geographic barriers in behavioral health care.
Source: HeraldNet
Jun 28, 2024 - The American Public Health Association is seeking submissions of articles focused on partnerships and collaborations between public health and primary care to be featured in a special issue of the American Journal of Public Health. Includes details on themes of interest, including a request for submissions focused on approaches that increase access to primary care in rural and hard-to-reach settings. Submissions are due November 1, 2024.
Source: American Public Health Association
Jun 28, 2024 - Profiles the community paramedicine program launched by the local emergency medical services department in Terlingua, a small town in rural west Texas. The Terlingua program is being funded as part of a $5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development grant, with no guarantees for long-term funding.
Source: Marketplace
Jun 28, 2024 - Washington Senator Maria Cantwell cosponsored legislation aiming to increase rural hospitals' reimbursements through Medicaid, in order to help keep maternity wards open in rural Washington communities. The legislation would give rural hospitals and hospitals with a high percentage of births among Medicaid patients a 150% Medicaid reimbursement rate.
Source: Northwest Public Broadcasting
Jun 27, 2024 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making technical and typographical corrections to the May 10, 2024, final rule titled "Medicaid Program; Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services." The effective date of the Access final rule is July 9, 2024. This notice is effective July 9, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 26, 2024 - Discusses Pennsylvania legislation which will require public and private insurers to cover telehealth services. Notes the importance of telehealth for ensuring access to healthcare services in rural Pennsylvania, where 15 hospitals have closed in the last 5 years.
Source: The Center Square
Jun 26, 2024 - Highlights efforts by the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta to expand access to doula services for Black women in rural Georgia. Describes doula services including education, health system navigation, emotional support, and resource referrals. Discusses funding challenges and efforts to make doula services reimbursable by Medicaid in Georgia.
Source: WABE
Jun 24, 2024 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making typographical corrections to the May 10, 2024, final rule titled "Medicaid Program; Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Managed Care Access, Finance, and Quality." These corrections are effective July 9, 2024.
Source: Federal Register