Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Home Health Care Services: Chapter 7
Discusses payment adequacy for home health care services. Features statistics on Medicare margins for home health agencies between 2019-2023 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas, a comparison of patient-experience quality measures by urban and rural status, and the number of home health periods provided to rural beneficiaries.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Discusses payment adequacy for home health care services. Features statistics on Medicare margins for home health agencies between 2019-2023 with breakdowns by urban and rural areas, a comparison of patient-experience quality measures by urban and rural status, and the number of home health periods provided to rural beneficiaries.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy: Hospice Services: Chapter 9
Discusses payment adequacy for hospice and palliative support services. Includes data on average costs by day and aggregate margins by urban and rural status, as well as demographics on Medicare decedents who used hospice during 2010 and between 2019-2023. Compares the actual hospice utilization rates in micropolitan, rural adjacent, rural nonadjacent, and frontier areas to urban hospice utilization rates.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Discusses payment adequacy for hospice and palliative support services. Includes data on average costs by day and aggregate margins by urban and rural status, as well as demographics on Medicare decedents who used hospice during 2010 and between 2019-2023. Compares the actual hospice utilization rates in micropolitan, rural adjacent, rural nonadjacent, and frontier areas to urban hospice utilization rates.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Human Cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) — California, September–December 2024
Reports on increased risk for infection from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) among people who work closely with dairy cows, poultry, or other animals with suspected or confirmed infection. Includes data on investigations that led to identification of 38 people who tested positive for HPAI A(H5N1) viruses in California, including 37 dairy farm workers with exposure to sick cows, and one child with an undetermined exposure.
Author(s): Sophie Zhu, Kathleen Harriman, Caterina Liu, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 74(8), 127–133
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Reports on increased risk for infection from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) among people who work closely with dairy cows, poultry, or other animals with suspected or confirmed infection. Includes data on investigations that led to identification of 38 people who tested positive for HPAI A(H5N1) viruses in California, including 37 dairy farm workers with exposure to sick cows, and one child with an undetermined exposure.
Author(s): Sophie Zhu, Kathleen Harriman, Caterina Liu, et al.
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 74(8), 127–133
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2025
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Includes discussion on Medicare payment policies directly affecting rural providers and beneficiaries. Addresses payment adequacy for Medicare fee-for-service payment systems, Medicare Advantage (MA), and Medicare Part D.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Includes discussion on Medicare payment policies directly affecting rural providers and beneficiaries. Addresses payment adequacy for Medicare fee-for-service payment systems, Medicare Advantage (MA), and Medicare Part D.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP, March 2025
Reports on three aspects of Medicaid of interest to Congress: 1) improving the usability and transparency of the managed care external quality review process, 2) improvements on timely access to home- and community-based services (HCBS), and 3) ways to streamline Medicaid Section 1915 authorities for home-and community-based services and reduce the administrative burden.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Reports on three aspects of Medicaid of interest to Congress: 1) improving the usability and transparency of the managed care external quality review process, 2) improvements on timely access to home- and community-based services (HCBS), and 3) ways to streamline Medicaid Section 1915 authorities for home-and community-based services and reduce the administrative burden.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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March 2025 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) March 2025 meeting. Covers research and proposals related to reforming physician fee schedule updates and improving the accuracy of relative payment rates, reducing beneficiary cost-sharing for outpatient services at Critical Access Hospitals, Medicare insurance agents, Medigap, payment for ground ambulance services, home healthcare use among Medicare Advantage enrollees, and institutional special needs plans. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Additional links: Mandated Report: Payment for Ground Ambulance Services, Reducing Beneficiary Cost-Sharing for Outpatient Services at Critical Access Hospitals
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) March 2025 meeting. Covers research and proposals related to reforming physician fee schedule updates and improving the accuracy of relative payment rates, reducing beneficiary cost-sharing for outpatient services at Critical Access Hospitals, Medicare insurance agents, Medigap, payment for ground ambulance services, home healthcare use among Medicare Advantage enrollees, and institutional special needs plans. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Additional links: Mandated Report: Payment for Ground Ambulance Services, Reducing Beneficiary Cost-Sharing for Outpatient Services at Critical Access Hospitals
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Disparities in Cardiovascular Disease Prevalence by Race and Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Status, Urbanicity, and Social Determinants of Health Among Medicare Beneficiaries With Diabetes
Examines demographic disparities in cardiovascular disease prevalence among people with diabetes, utilizing 2015–2019 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data. Includes sociodemographic data, including rural-urban comparisons, on crude and adjusted prevalence of myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure.
Author(s): Xilin Zhou, Joohyun Park, Deborah B. Rolka, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 22, 240270
Date: 03/2025
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Examines demographic disparities in cardiovascular disease prevalence among people with diabetes, utilizing 2015–2019 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data. Includes sociodemographic data, including rural-urban comparisons, on crude and adjusted prevalence of myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure.
Author(s): Xilin Zhou, Joohyun Park, Deborah B. Rolka, et al.
Citation: Preventing Chronic Disease, 22, 240270
Date: 03/2025
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Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Mortality by Industry and Occupation — United States, 2020–2022
Reports on mortality due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive lung disease, for men and women by industry and occupation. Includes data on IPF mortality in industries and occupations common in rural areas, such as farming, fishing, and forestry work.
Author(s): Jacek M. Mazurek, Girija Syamlal, David N. Weissman
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 74(7), 109-115
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Reports on mortality due to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a progressive lung disease, for men and women by industry and occupation. Includes data on IPF mortality in industries and occupations common in rural areas, such as farming, fishing, and forestry work.
Author(s): Jacek M. Mazurek, Girija Syamlal, David N. Weissman
Citation: MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), 74(7), 109-115
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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How Latine Youth's Positive Development Unfold Through Farmwork in Rural Migrant Farmworker Families in the U.S. Midwest
Presents a study on the experiences of Latine youth in rural farmworker communities and evaluates their behavioral health and well-being. Aims to evaluate prosocial behaviors, civic responsibility, and ego-resiliency based on their experiences.
Author(s): Xue Jiang, Zoe E. Taylor, Gustavo Carlo, et al.
Citation: Journal of Research on Adolescence, 35(1), e13053
Date: 03/2025
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Presents a study on the experiences of Latine youth in rural farmworker communities and evaluates their behavioral health and well-being. Aims to evaluate prosocial behaviors, civic responsibility, and ego-resiliency based on their experiences.
Author(s): Xue Jiang, Zoe E. Taylor, Gustavo Carlo, et al.
Citation: Journal of Research on Adolescence, 35(1), e13053
Date: 03/2025
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Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS): 2024 Opt-in and Voluntary Reporting Election Process Guide
Discusses the eligibility of clinicians, groups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) participants that exceed some low-volume threshold criteria to opt-in to the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the APM Performance Pathway (APP) for the 2024 performance period. Compares opting in and voluntarily reporting MIPS data and provides an overview of the election process.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Discusses the eligibility of clinicians, groups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) participants that exceed some low-volume threshold criteria to opt-in to the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the APM Performance Pathway (APP) for the 2024 performance period. Compares opting in and voluntarily reporting MIPS data and provides an overview of the election process.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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