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
Resources by Topic: Policy

Oversight Hearing on "Justice for Native Youth: The GAO Report on 'Native American Youth Involvement in Justice Systems and Information on Grants to Help Address Juvenile Delinquency'"
Provides a recording and related documents from a Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing focused on factors that can increase justice system involvement by Native American youth, such as substance abuse, poverty, and limited funding for mental health services. Focuses on federal grants that could help address underlying issues. Additional links include the report under discussion from the Government Accountability Office.
Additional links: Native American Youth: Information on Involvement in Justice Systems and Grant Programs to Help Address Juvenile Delinquency
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
view details
Better Data and Better Outcomes: Reducing Maternal Mortality in the U.S.
Provides the House Subcommittee on Health hearing recording and related documents on preventing maternal deaths. Addresses disparities in rural maternal mortality. Features testimonies from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the National Birth Equity Collaborative, March of Dimes, and more.
Additional links: Joia Crear Perry Testimony, Stacey Stewart Testimony
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health
view details
Hospital Mergers and Public Accountability: Tennessee and Virginia Employ a Certificate of Public Advantage
Examines how state officials can use the certificate of public advantage (COPA) to supervise hospital mergers to benefit the public, particularly in rural areas where mergers may be sought to address financial challenges. Focuses on a case study where officials in Tennessee and Virginia developed COPAs in response to a proposed rural hospital merger affecting both their states. Addresses the role of the states, their processes, and policy implications for other states.
Author(s): Erin C. Fuse Brown
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
view details
The Indian Health Service Did Not Always Resolve Audit Recommendations in Accordance With Federal Requirements
Reports on the Indian Health Service's (IHS) failure to resolve audit recommendations in the allotted time for the 2015 and 2016 fiscal years. Details the number of recommendations resolved and the number past-due after the required 6-month period.
Additional links: Report in Brief
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
view details
Health Care in Rural America: Examining Experiences and Costs
Provides a recording of a Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security meeting addressing rural healthcare challenges. Discusses healthcare access, workforce shortages, costs, reimbursement, care delivery issues, and potential solutions, such as telehealth.
Additional links: Alan Levine Testimony, Deborah Richter Testimony, Morgan Reed Testimony, Tom Glause Testimony
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
view details
Nurse Practitioners: A Solution to America's Primary Care Crisis
Examines trends in supply and demand of nurse practitioners (NPs), including projected supply of physicians and NPs in rural areas. Includes a table listing state-level scope-of-practice regulatory restrictions on NPs as of 2018.
Author(s): Peter Buerhaus
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: American Enterprise Institute
view details
Indian Health Service: Considerations Related to Providing Advance Appropriation Authority
Examines the effects of budget uncertainty on Indian Health Service (IHS) funding and considerations that should be taken into account if IHS was given advance appropriation authority like the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Focuses on administrative impacts, provider recruitment and retention, and the financial effects for tribes.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
Examining Barriers to Expanding Innovative, Value-Based Care in Medicare
Presents the September 2018 U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Medicare efforts to transition from a fee-for-service model to a value-based payment model. Features testimony from physicians and healthcare associations, healthcare systems, first responders, and an information technology association. Testimony briefly addresses rural areas, particularly how broadband access and telehealth can benefit rural Americans.
Additional links: Morgan Reed Testimony
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health
view details
Broadband Internet: FCC's Data Overstate Access on Tribal Lands
Examines the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) data collection methods to evaluate tribal broadband access in order to improve the accuracy of their efforts to fund underserved areas. Addresses scenarios that affect broadband access and offers three recommendations for the FCC.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2019
Comment on a July 2018 Federal Register proposed rule revising the physician fee schedule to improve payment systems for physicians and other Medicare Part B revisions.
Author(s): Francis J. Crosson
Date: 09/2018
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details