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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

December 2023 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2023 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for physician and other health professional services, hospital inpatient and outpatient services, hospice services, outpatient dialysis services, ambulatory surgical center services, skilled nursing facilities, skilled nursing facility services, home health services, and inpatient rehabilitation facility services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Supporting Health Care Teams for Today and Pathways for Tomorrow: Twenty-Second Annual Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Congress
Offers policy recommendations regarding activities related to healthcare workforce education and training. Recommendations cover three programmatic areas - behavioral health workforce, geriatrics, and Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) - and are related to engaging potential trainees across the life course, recognizing and training caregivers as workforce participants, revising financial support to critical programs for recruitment and retention, and updating policy terms to better address challenges.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community-Based Linkages
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Fact Sheet: How to Define Rurality
Fact sheet defines rural in the context of the Veterans Health Administration. Discusses RUCA codes, Census tracts, and how the VA assigns rurality.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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Perceptions of the Farm Bill Among Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans
Analyzes 2023 Nebraska Rural Poll Results related to how rural Nebraskans perceive federal agricultural policy and farm bill programs. Includes survey data and demographic information on survey respondents.
Author(s): Rebecca Vogt, Heather Akin, Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel, et al.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Nebraska-Lincoln
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2023 Technical Expert Panel Meetings: Expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model Summary Report
Provides an overview of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and the Expanded HHVBP Model. Summarizes discussions and feedback from the Expanded HHVBP Technical Expert Panel in 2023, including health equity approaches, performance measures, measure weights, and performance reporting. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Confronting Workforce Shortages and Health Worker Well-Being
Six videos addressing the impact of healthcare worker shortages and how those shortages affect individual well-being and the ability to provide care in rural communities. Includes a keynote presentation by the Chief Medical Officer of the Indian Health Service. Transcripts available under the descriptions of the videos.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: National Academy of Medicine
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Federal Funding for Broadband Deployment: Agencies and Considerations for Congress
Provides an overview of federal agencies that fund broadband deployment and describes each agency's key broadband programs. Discusses policy issues and considerations for Congress related to federal broadband deployment funding at these agencies, including creating a coordinated national broadband strategy, expanding oversight, and shifting to funding sustainability.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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The Influence of Organizational Aspects of the U.S. Agricultural Industry and Socioeconomic and Political Conditions on Farmworkers' COVID-19 Workplace Safety
Interviewed 14 rural Latinx California farmworkers between July 2020 and April 2021 on the impacts of regulatory oversight and workplace safety measures on COVID-19 risks in the workplace. Discusses legal status for farmworkers and offers policy recommendations for occupational health and safety measures.
Author(s): Fabiola M. Perez-Lua, Alec M. Chan-Golston, Nancy J. Burke, Maria-Elena De Trinidad Young
Citation: International Journal of Research and Public Health, 20(23), 7138
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
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Supporting Resilience in Rural Areas Through Cross-Sector Partnerships
Discusses the importance of working across multiple agencies and organizations to address social, economic, and environmental determinants of health. Describes the Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach that uses cross-sector strategies to build health infrastructure and sustainability, with examples from rural communities.
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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Engaging Families and Providers When Aligning Early Childhood and Medicaid Systems: State Lessons
Describes how the alignment of health and social supports and services offered by Medicaid and early childhood agencies can create systems that better meet the needs of families with young children. Outlines four strategies states can use to engage families and providers when working on systems alignment effectively. Highlights an Alaska initiative that worked with a local community organization to recruit rural providers and families to identify opportunities for service improvement.
Author(s): Lauren Scannelli Jacobs, Armelle Casau
Date: 12/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Center for Health Care Strategies
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