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Rural Health
News by Topic: American Indian or Alaska Native

Dec 17, 2024 - Notice from the Indian Health Service (IHS) proposing to expand the geographic boundaries of the Purchased/Referred Care Delivery Area (PRCDA) for the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy's Reservation to include Cascade County, Montana. Comments are due by January 16, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Dec 16, 2024 - Notice from the Indian Health Service (IHS) announcing the calendar year 2025 reimbursement rates for inpatient and outpatient medical care provided by IHS facilities to Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal program beneficiaries. The updated rates apply to all qualifying services provided on or after January 1, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Dec 12, 2024 - Announces a new program to support American Indian and Alaska Native students in completing psychology degrees. Notes the underrepresentation in the Alaskan workforce leading to limited culturally-relevant care and workforce shortages in rural areas.
Source: Native News Online
Dec 11, 2024 - Notice from the Indian Health Service (IHS) proposing to expand the geographic boundaries of the Purchased/Referred Care Delivery Area (PRCDA) for the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska to include Jackson County, Kansas, and Holt County, Missouri. Comments are due by January 10, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Dec 11, 2024 - Notice from the Indian Health Service (IHS) proposing to expand the geographic boundaries of the Purchased/Referred Care Delivery Area (PRCDA) for the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska to include the counties of Doniphan and Jackson in Kansas and Holt County, Missouri. Comments are due by January 10, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Dec 4, 2024 - Notice of proposed rule from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopting a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) that seeks comment on the implementation of the Alaska Connect Fund (ACF) for mobile service from the period January 1, 2030, through December 31, 2034, for areas where more than one mobile provider had been receiving support for overlapping service areas, or duplicate-support areas (ACF Mobile Phase II). Among other things, the FCC seeks comments on the methodology to determine support amounts in duplicate-support areas and the competitive or alternative mechanism to distribute support, how to distribute support in unserved areas, and Tribal consent requirements for the ACF. Comments are due by February 3, 2025, and reply comments are due by March 4, 2025.
Source: Federal Register
Dec 2, 2024 - Describes the findings of a recent report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the use of nirsevimab to treat RSV among infants in rural Alaska. Notes that the drug helped to reduce the severity of illness among babies and young children in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, which has the highest rate of RSV-related infant hospitalization in the nation. Discusses how inadequate water and wastewater services and overcrowded housing in rural Alaska contribute to disease spread.
Source: Alaska Beacon
Nov 27, 2024 - Notice of final rule with comment period from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revising the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ACS) payment system for calendar year 2025. This rule also updates the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program, Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting (REHQR) Program, Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program, and Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program and finalizes updates to the Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) for obstetrical services. Among other things, this rule summarizes comments received in response to an information request on potential modifications to the Safety of Care measure group in the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating methodology. This rule also finalizes exceptions to the Medicaid clinic services benefit four walls requirement for Indian Health Service and Tribal clinics, and, at state option, for behavioral health clinics and clinics located in rural areas. The provisions of this rule are effective January 1, 2025. Comments are due by December 31, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Nov 22, 2024 - Notice from the Indian Health Service (IHS) announcing the decision to expand the geographic boundaries of the Purchased/Referred Care Delivery Area (PRCDA) for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians of Michigan and Indiana (Pokagon Band) to include the counties of Kalamazoo, Kent, and Ottawa in Michigan. The expanded boundaries will include the current PRCDA for the Pokagon Band, which includes Allegan, Berrien, Cass, Kalamazoo, Kent, Ottawa, and Van Buren counties in Michigan, and Elkhart, Kosciusko, La Porte, Marshall, St. Joseph, and Starke counties in Indiana. This expansion is effective November 22, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Nov 18, 2024 - Notice of final rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families amending the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) regulations to allow all Indian tribes and tribal organizations operating CCDF program to establish eligibility criteria regardless of family income. This rule is effective November 18, 2024.
Source: Federal Register