Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
Medicaid and Counties: Understanding the Program and Why It Matters to Counties
Discusses the importance of Medicaid in county-level healthcare. Describes the role Medicaid plays in financing and delivering healthcare for children, the elderly, the disabled, and rural residents. Highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the Medicaid program and challenges for county governments.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Counties
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Discusses the importance of Medicaid in county-level healthcare. Describes the role Medicaid plays in financing and delivering healthcare for children, the elderly, the disabled, and rural residents. Highlights the impact of COVID-19 on the Medicaid program and challenges for county governments.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Counties
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Outpatient Telehealth Use Soared Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic but Has since Receded
Brief examining outpatient telehealth visits from March 2019 to August 2021 based on a data set that includes over 126 million patients from 889 hospitals and 19,320 clinics nationwide. Covers changes in telehealth use during the pandemic, telehealth use by age group and sex, rural and urban rates of telehealth use, and telehealth use for management of chronic conditions. Discusses impacts on healthcare access, cost, quality, and outcomes, as well as policy implications.
Author(s): Justin Lo, Matthew Rae, Krutika Ann, Cynthia Cox
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organizations: KFF, Peterson Center on Healthcare
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Brief examining outpatient telehealth visits from March 2019 to August 2021 based on a data set that includes over 126 million patients from 889 hospitals and 19,320 clinics nationwide. Covers changes in telehealth use during the pandemic, telehealth use by age group and sex, rural and urban rates of telehealth use, and telehealth use for management of chronic conditions. Discusses impacts on healthcare access, cost, quality, and outcomes, as well as policy implications.
Author(s): Justin Lo, Matthew Rae, Krutika Ann, Cynthia Cox
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organizations: KFF, Peterson Center on Healthcare
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How States Can Expand Health Care Access in Rural Communities
Discusses policy options states could use to increase access to care and the supply of healthcare providers in rural areas. Covers financial assistance programs for medical and dental education; malpractice reform; scope of practice changes for advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, and dental health aide therapists; telemedicine parity; and mobile clinics.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
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Discusses policy options states could use to increase access to care and the supply of healthcare providers in rural areas. Covers financial assistance programs for medical and dental education; malpractice reform; scope of practice changes for advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, and dental health aide therapists; telemedicine parity; and mobile clinics.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
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Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking Final Report
Reports on synthetic drug trafficking in the U.S., including the challenges for law enforcement, need for updated drug policy, and surveillance and data analysis concerns. Discusses public health considerations and challenges for reducing the demand for drugs via treatment. Technical Appendixes include rural references throughout, and Figure B.5 shows opioid-involved overdose deaths by Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) for 2000-2019.
Additional links: Technical Appendixes
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organizations: Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, RAND Corporation, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate
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Reports on synthetic drug trafficking in the U.S., including the challenges for law enforcement, need for updated drug policy, and surveillance and data analysis concerns. Discusses public health considerations and challenges for reducing the demand for drugs via treatment. Technical Appendixes include rural references throughout, and Figure B.5 shows opioid-involved overdose deaths by Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) for 2000-2019.
Additional links: Technical Appendixes
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organizations: Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, RAND Corporation, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Treasury, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate
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Chartis Center for Rural Health Research & Resources for the 2022 National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Policy Institute Conference
Offers research and analysis of the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Includes Pandemic Increases Pressure on Rural Hospitals & Communities: Vulnerability, Health Inequity and Staffing Crisis Amplified in Pandemic's Third Year and presentation slides on this report from the 2022 National Rural Health Association Policy Institute. Provides links to national and state data tables showing the financial impact of federal policies on rural hospitals.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Offers research and analysis of the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Includes Pandemic Increases Pressure on Rural Hospitals & Communities: Vulnerability, Health Inequity and Staffing Crisis Amplified in Pandemic's Third Year and presentation slides on this report from the 2022 National Rural Health Association Policy Institute. Provides links to national and state data tables showing the financial impact of federal policies on rural hospitals.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Pandemic Increases Pressure on Rural Hospitals & Communities: Vulnerability, Health Inequity and Staffing Crisis Amplified in Pandemic's Third Year
Examines the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Discusses disparities between rural and urban communities and communities with hospitals vulnerable to closure. Describes the benefits of COVID-19 relief funding on rural hospitals and how scheduled reimbursement cuts and staffing shortages could impact hospitals' financial stability. Also discusses how staffing shortages impact access to obstetrics and chemotherapy care in rural areas.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Examines the stability of the rural healthcare safety net. Discusses disparities between rural and urban communities and communities with hospitals vulnerable to closure. Describes the benefits of COVID-19 relief funding on rural hospitals and how scheduled reimbursement cuts and staffing shortages could impact hospitals' financial stability. Also discusses how staffing shortages impact access to obstetrics and chemotherapy care in rural areas.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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The Problem Of The Color Line: Spatial Access To Hospital Services For Minoritized Racial And Ethnic Groups
Study examining healthcare access by race and geography, covering distances to hospital services for minoritized ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZTCAs). Discusses factors that lead to disparities in access for rural minority communities, including policy, rural hospital closures, and safety-net program issues.
Additional links: Story Map: The Problem Of The Color Line
Author(s): Jan M. Eberth, Peiyin Hung, Gabriel A. Benavidez, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 41(2), 237-246
Date: 02/2022
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Study examining healthcare access by race and geography, covering distances to hospital services for minoritized ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZTCAs). Discusses factors that lead to disparities in access for rural minority communities, including policy, rural hospital closures, and safety-net program issues.
Additional links: Story Map: The Problem Of The Color Line
Author(s): Jan M. Eberth, Peiyin Hung, Gabriel A. Benavidez, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs, 41(2), 237-246
Date: 02/2022
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Meeting the Behavioral Health Needs of Farm Families in Times of Economic Distress
Offers strategies to support development and integration of behavioral health services across healthcare and community-based organizations, including leveraging payment systems to support coordinated care for farm families and aligning federal grant programs to address mental health and substance use disorders. Features recommendations including integrating primary and behavioral care for initial treatment of mental health and substance abuse concerns, expanding the workforce to improve rural behavioral health services capacity, increasing telehealth services, and expanding private and public insurance coverage.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Alva O. Ferdinand, Alana Knudson, et al.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Offers strategies to support development and integration of behavioral health services across healthcare and community-based organizations, including leveraging payment systems to support coordinated care for farm families and aligning federal grant programs to address mental health and substance use disorders. Features recommendations including integrating primary and behavioral care for initial treatment of mental health and substance abuse concerns, expanding the workforce to improve rural behavioral health services capacity, increasing telehealth services, and expanding private and public insurance coverage.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Alva O. Ferdinand, Alana Knudson, et al.
Date: 02/2022
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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The Indian Health Service and American Indian/Alaska Native Health Outcomes
Offers an overview of the history of the U.S. Indian Health Service, describing the agency's efforts to address public health and healthcare needs of American Indian and Alaska Native populations as well as challenges related to meeting those needs. Presents data from various publications on life expectancy, health outcomes, and health disparities.
Author(s): Gina Kruse, Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, Anpotowin Jensen, Lakotah Hardie, Thomas D. Sequist
Citation: Annual Review of Public Health, 43, 559-576
Date: 01/2022
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Offers an overview of the history of the U.S. Indian Health Service, describing the agency's efforts to address public health and healthcare needs of American Indian and Alaska Native populations as well as challenges related to meeting those needs. Presents data from various publications on life expectancy, health outcomes, and health disparities.
Author(s): Gina Kruse, Victor A. Lopez-Carmen, Anpotowin Jensen, Lakotah Hardie, Thomas D. Sequist
Citation: Annual Review of Public Health, 43, 559-576
Date: 01/2022
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January 2022 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) January 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services, physician and other health professional services, outpatient dialysis services and improving the ESRD payment system, skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, long-term care hospital services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, hospice services, and ambulatory surgical center services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 01/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) January 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services, physician and other health professional services, outpatient dialysis services and improving the ESRD payment system, skilled nursing facility services, home health agency services, long-term care hospital services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services, hospice services, and ambulatory surgical center services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 01/2022
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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