Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Access

2021 U.S. Rural Health Report Card
Provides individualized rural health rankings and grades for U.S. states and includes final average rankings for U.S. Census regional divisions. Offers explanations behind each state's overall score, including measures related to mortality, quality of life, and access to care. Covers rural/urban comparisons for age-adjusted mortality rates.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
view details
Personal Care Assistance in Rural America
Discusses Personal Care Aide (PCA) scarcity in rural areas using 2013-2017 American Community Survey data. Presents maps and graphs of self-care disability prevalence and PCA availability with breakdowns by region. Also provides graphs comparing rural and urban PCA demographics, including poverty rate, race, educational attainment, sex, age, language spoken at home, and U.S. or foreign place of birth.
Author(s): Lillie Greiman, Rayna A Sage, Timothy Bates, et al.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Website
Sponsoring organizations: Research and Training Center on Disability in Rural Communities, University of California San Francisco Health Workforce Research Center (UCSF HWRC)
view details
Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant Program Phase 6 Program Report
Provides an overview of the Rural Hospital Stabilization Grant Program for rural Georgia hospitals. Describes projects funded in fiscal year 2021 as part of Phase Six of the program and how funds were used to meet program goals.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
view details
Private Health Insurance: State and Federal Oversight of Provider Networks Varies
Describes oversight responsibilities for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, the Department of Labor, and state governments for ensuring adequate private health insurance plans and provider networks. Examines processes for determining adequacy through surveys and interviews with stakeholders from state agencies and medical association groups as well as a review of relevant laws and regulations. Outlines factors for inadequacy including health workforce shortages and distance from in-network services in rural areas.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Exploring Remaining Needs and Opportunities for Improvement in Rural Communities: A Focus on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Programs
Provides an overview of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Presents findings from interviews with TANF program staff and partner organizations regarding delivering TANF services in rural communities. Identifies rural areas with remaining need for TANF cash assistance and Tribal TANF services. Offers providers' lessons learned and recommendations to help inform policy and service delivery moving forward.
Author(s): Emma Ward, Neel Chakraborti, Emily Brimsek, James Murdoch, Heather Hahn
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: 2M Research, Administration for Children and Families, Urban Institute
view details
A Snapshot of Racial Inequities in Human Services Programs in Rural Contexts
Examines the need for human services across rural counties and broken down by racial/ethnic groups. Provides data on human services funding per person, unemployment rate, poverty rate, access to broadband, and access to vehicles by rural Black, Hispanic, Native, and White citizens. Includes a 2018 county-level U.S. map that depicts rural counties with high needs for human services by predominant race.
Author(s): Emma Ward, James Murdoch, Neel Chakraborti
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: 2M Research, Administration for Children and Families
view details
Exploring Remaining Needs and Opportunities for Improvement in Rural Communities: A Focus on Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Services
Provides an overview of the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Program. Presents findings from interviews with rural human services providers across 8 sites with MIECHV-funded programs. Describes the experiences of rural practitioners as they deliver home visiting services in their communities. Offers lessons learned and practitioner recommendations to help inform policy and service delivery moving forward.
Author(s): Emily Brimsek, James Murdoch, Neel Chakraborti
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: 2M Research, Administration for Children and Families
view details
A Snapshot of Broadband Access in Rural Communities
Presents findings from interviews with human services staff to describe broadband access in rural areas. Discusses how limited broadband access is a significant barrier to social and economic well-being. Identifies opportunities to increase access to broadband through human services programs in rural contexts.
Author(s): Ashton Cain, Emma Ward, James Murdoch, Neel Chakraborti
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: 2M Research, Administration for Children and Families
view details
Maternal Mortality in Indiana (2022): Contributing Factors and Policy Recommendations
Discusses causes of maternal mortality and related data in Indiana and the U.S. at large. Includes information on disparities with a focus on rural areas, race/ethnicity, and access to maternal health services. Provides county-level map of Indiana showing ratio of county population to obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYN) specialists.
Author(s): Nidhi Arun, Vatsla Sharma, Elizabeth Thuranira
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Indiana University Public Policy Institute
view details
2023 Physician Fee Schedule Update
Webinar recording discusses the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Physician Fee Schedule and highlights how the policy changes around behavioral health and telehealth services may affect rural communities. Features presentations from representatives of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the CMS Center for Medicare, Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group, Division of Ambulatory Services.
Additional links: Audio Recording, Webinar Slides, Webinar Transcript
Date: 12/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details