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Rural Health
Resources by Type: Document

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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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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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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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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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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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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Screening and Referral Programs for Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: Can Community Pharmacists Bridge the Care Gap?
Examines the community-based valued-driven care initiative (CVCI) in community pharmacies to evaluate its effectiveness related to screening and referral (S&R) to treat cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM). Analyzes patient demographics and success rates of CVD and DM S&R in 6 community pharmacies, with both rural and urban locations represented.
Author(s): Melanie Livet, Amber Watson, Shweta Pathak, et al.
Citation: Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy, 17, 100539
Date: 03/2025
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A Guide to Working with Rural Philanthropy
Strategies for rural communities and organizations to help build and sustain partnerships with philanthropies. Includes background information on rural philanthropy and identifies actions and characteristics that may make a program successful in seeking funding from a philanthropy that wants to invest in rural health.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organizations: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis, Rural Health Information Hub
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Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC)
Provides an overview of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ASTP/ONC) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Describes ASTP/ONC focus areas, statutory authorities, funding, and select policy considerations.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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The 10-20-30 Provision: Defining Persistent Poverty Counties
Defines persistent poverty counties. Discusses how differences in definitions and data can affect which counties are considered persistently poor and includes a map highlighting the impact of different rounding methods. Briefly addresses legislation targeting persistent poverty counties using the "10-20-30 provision," including rural development funding. Table 3 lists persistent poverty counties based on data from the 1993 Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE), Census 2000, and the 2023 SAIPE.
Date: 03/2025
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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