Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Federal Highway Traffic Safety Policies: Impacts and Opportunities
Examines the impact of federal highway safety policies. Includes data on crashes, fatalities, seat belt use, motorcycle helmet use, alcohol use, and more. Provides some data and discussion related to rural drivers.
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
view details
Our Wireless Future: Building a Comprehensive Approach to Spectrum Policy
Documents related to a U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing focused on policies affecting access to wireless internet. Addresses access to wireless in rural tribal areas, spectrum for emergency operations, options for expanding rural broadband access, and uses for broadband access. Includes testimony from the Federal Communications Commission, MuralNet, Competitive Carriers Association, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, and others.
Additional links: Hearing Recording, Julius P. Knapp Testimony, Mariel Triggs Testimony, Michael Calabrese Testimony, Peter Pitsch Testimony, Tim Donovan Testimony
Date: 07/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: House Committee on Energy and Commerce
view details
Support and Services at Home (SASH) Evaluation: SASH Evaluation Findings, 2010-2016
Evaluates the Support and Services at Home (SASH) program in Vermont, which provides support services and care coordination for older adults and people with disabilities in conjunction with affordable housing. Addresses Medicaid and Medicare expenditures, medication management, property management, challenges, and lessons learned. Identifies the percent of rural SASH host properties and differences for rural areas.
Additional links: Highlights
Author(s): Amy Kandilov, Vincent Keyes, Noƫlle Siegfried, et al.
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
view details
Emergency Management: FEMA's Disaster Recovery Efforts in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands
Describes the disaster recovery efforts of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in response to hurricane damage, including damage to hospitals and infrastructure. Discusses grant funding and recovery office establishment, and addresses the challenges in implementing the public assistance program.
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Utilization of the 340B Drug Pricing Program in Rural Practices Policy Paper
Policy brief describing the 340B Drug Pricing Program with a focus on rural hospitals. Discusses the challenges with measuring its impact on rural hospitals and the program's benefits for rural communities.
Author(s): Austin Gillard, Dennis Shelby, Karen White
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
view details
Telehealth in Rural America
Policy brief focused on telehealth in the rural U.S. Addresses state and national policies related to insurance coverage of telehealth, infrastructure challenges such as broadband access, licensure issues, reimbursement, and other barriers to telehealth access.
Author(s): Windy Alonso, Elizabeth Crouch, Nicole Thorell
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
view details
National Rural Health Association: Rural Veterans and Their Families Policy Paper
Policy brief focused on supporting the health of rural veterans and their families from a community-based systems perspective. Addresses public-private partnerships, faith-based solutions, leveraging the stories of veterans using media, and the financial and economic security of rural veterans.
Author(s): David Albright, Carter Florence
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
view details
Guidance to States and School Systems on Addressing Mental Health and Substance Use Issues in Schools
Report provides guidance to school systems and state governments about mental health and substance use in schools. Highlights examples of methods to identify and address mental health issues and substance use in schools. Discusses state-level Medicaid funding for behavioral health.
Author(s): Elinore McCance-Katz, Calder Lynch
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
view details
When Will the U.S. Territories Exhaust Federal Medicaid Funding?
Issue brief exploring the projected effects on healthcare expense funding in American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands if all sources of federal funding are allowed to expire in 2019. Features statistics for Medicaid funding and spending in the territories for fiscal year 2018, and sources of federal Medicaid funding and periods during which the funding is available.
Date: 07/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
view details
A Rural Health Crisis: The Changing Landscape of the 1980s and Beyond
Brief video overview of issues in the 1980s that resulted in a wave of rural hospital closures, including an economic shift from manufacturing, farm closures, and changes in the Medicare payment system.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
view details