Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
Medicare Payment Basics: Outpatient Hospital Services Payment System
Outlines Medicare's payments for outpatient hospital services, including considerations for rural sole community hospitals.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Outlines Medicare's payments for outpatient hospital services, including considerations for rural sole community hospitals.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Medicare Payment Basics: Part D Payment System
Overview of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, including subsidy amounts, payments to plans, how enrollee premiums are calculated, and benefit and payment updates.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Overview of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit, including subsidy amounts, payments to plans, how enrollee premiums are calculated, and benefit and payment updates.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Medicare Payment Basics: Physician and Other Health Professional Payment System
Overview of Medicare payments for physician services conducted in a variety of settings including physicians' offices, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, skilled nursing facilities and other post-acute care settings, hospices, outpatient dialysis facilities, clinical laboratories, and beneficiaries' homes.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Overview of Medicare payments for physician services conducted in a variety of settings including physicians' offices, hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, skilled nursing facilities and other post-acute care settings, hospices, outpatient dialysis facilities, clinical laboratories, and beneficiaries' homes.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Medicare Payment Basics: Skilled Nursing Facility Services Payment System
Overview of Medicare payments for skilled nursing and rehabilitation services. Describes what constitutes a skilled nursing facility and how small, rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may be used to provide these services with CMS approval. Compares Medicare daily base rates for urban and rural skilled nursing facilities.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Overview of Medicare payments for skilled nursing and rehabilitation services. Describes what constitutes a skilled nursing facility and how small, rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may be used to provide these services with CMS approval. Compares Medicare daily base rates for urban and rural skilled nursing facilities.
Date: 10/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Rural Communities at Greater Risk of Harmful Impacts from New Medicaid Work Reporting Requirements
Examines how new federal Medicaid work reporting requirements will affect people living in rural areas. Provides data on rural Medicaid enrollment, disability prevalence, and health status, and details rural-specific barriers to meeting and documenting compliance with work requirements.
Author(s): Adam Searing, Joan Alker
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Center for Children and Families, Georgetown University
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Examines how new federal Medicaid work reporting requirements will affect people living in rural areas. Provides data on rural Medicaid enrollment, disability prevalence, and health status, and details rural-specific barriers to meeting and documenting compliance with work requirements.
Author(s): Adam Searing, Joan Alker
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Center for Children and Families, Georgetown University
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September 2026 MACPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) September 2026 meeting. Covers community engagement requirements in Medicaid, state directed payments and healthcare-related taxes, a comparison of an updated inpatient hospital payment index across states, utilization management for medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in Medicaid, and Medicaid coverage of assistive technology for adults, among other things. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Medicaid Coverage of Assistive Technology for Adults: Data Analysis and Stakeholder Interviews
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Transcript from the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission's (MACPAC) September 2026 meeting. Covers community engagement requirements in Medicaid, state directed payments and healthcare-related taxes, a comparison of an updated inpatient hospital payment index across states, utilization management for medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in Medicaid, and Medicaid coverage of assistive technology for adults, among other things. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Medicaid Coverage of Assistive Technology for Adults: Data Analysis and Stakeholder Interviews
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Scope of Practice Laws Affecting Team-Based Heart Disease Care in Rural America: Policy Challenges and Opportunities
Evaluates how scope of practice laws influence team-based heart disease care and reimbursement via legal analysis of a variety of health professions and service categories across 11 states and 2 federal healthcare systems, and highlights health policy opportunities to strengthen team-based care. Discusses how team-based care can address rural workforce shortages and improve access to care.
Author(s): Jeff Lane, Signe Burchim, Amanda Li, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Heart Association, 15(9), e049493
Date: 09/2026
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Evaluates how scope of practice laws influence team-based heart disease care and reimbursement via legal analysis of a variety of health professions and service categories across 11 states and 2 federal healthcare systems, and highlights health policy opportunities to strengthen team-based care. Discusses how team-based care can address rural workforce shortages and improve access to care.
Author(s): Jeff Lane, Signe Burchim, Amanda Li, et al.
Citation: Journal of the American Heart Association, 15(9), e049493
Date: 09/2026
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Telehealth and Federally Qualified Health Centers
Provides an overview of state policies relating to Medicaid fee-for-service coverage and reimbursement of telehealth services at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) as of May 2026. Includes state-by-state information on FQHC eligibility for reimbursement for being originating and distant sites, store-and-forward services, audio-only services, remote patient monitoring, and more.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
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Provides an overview of state policies relating to Medicaid fee-for-service coverage and reimbursement of telehealth services at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) as of May 2026. Includes state-by-state information on FQHC eligibility for reimbursement for being originating and distant sites, store-and-forward services, audio-only services, remote patient monitoring, and more.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
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2026 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report
Report highlights the rate of suicide among veterans and the VA's role in suicide prevention. Discusses the risk factors for veteran suicide and the steps the VA is taking for suicide prevention. Breaks down rates of suicide by sex, contact with the VHA, and rurality, among other factors.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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Report highlights the rate of suicide among veterans and the VA's role in suicide prevention. Discusses the risk factors for veteran suicide and the steps the VA is taking for suicide prevention. Breaks down rates of suicide by sex, contact with the VHA, and rurality, among other factors.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
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The SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act of 2025: Section-by-Section Summary
Provides a section-by-section description of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act (P.L. 119-44). Includes background information and a summary of each provision. Table 1 presents expired authorizations and appropriations in the SUPPORT Act of 2018, related annual appropriations, and whether the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act reauthorized each provision.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Provides a section-by-section description of the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act (P.L. 119-44). Includes background information and a summary of each provision. Table 1 presents expired authorizations and appropriations in the SUPPORT Act of 2018, related annual appropriations, and whether the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act reauthorized each provision.
Date: 09/2026
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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