- Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust
- Food Stamps Go Further in Rural Areas — Until You Add Transportation Costs
- CMS Announces Resources and Flexibilities to Assist with the Public Health Emergency in the State of Texas
- CMS Proposes New Payments for Digital Health Under CY2025 PFS Draft Rule
- Improving Public Health by Strengthening Community Infrastructure
- Biden Harris Administration Proposes Policies to Reduce Maternal Mortality, Advance Health Equity, and Support Underserved Communities
- Nearly Half of U.S. Counties Don't Have a Single Cardiologist
- Randolph County, Ill. Turns Unused Part of Nursing Home Into State-Of-The-Art Behavioral Health Center
- Rural RPM Program Is a Lifeline for Pregnant Women
- Safe and Stable Housing Is a Foundation of Successful Recovery
- Expert: Rural Hospitals Are Particularly Vulnerable to Increasing Cyberattacks Targeting Healthcare Facilities
- Biden-Harris Administration Invests Over $200 Million to Help Primary Care Doctors, Nurses, and Other Health Care Providers Improve Care for Older Adults
- AJPH Call for Papers Special Section on Intersections of Public Health And Primary Care
- NIH HEAL Initiative Turns Attention to Pragmatic Trials in Rural Communities
- Limited Continuing-Care Options in Rural Virginia Create Challenges for an Aging Population
Take a Look at the FORHP Grants in Motion
Each quarter, The Rural Monitor features an in-depth look at the work of FORHP grantees. This edition of Grants in Motion focuses on the South Dakota Palliative Care Network, a grantee of the Rural Health Network Development Program (RHND). The RHND program supports integrated healthcare networks that collaborate with other local providers and services to achieve efficiencies and strengthen the rural healthcare system as a whole.
New Research on Rural-Urban Disparities in Medicare
This report from CMS highlights (1) rural-urban differences in Medicare beneficiaries’ health care experiences and clinical care, (2) how rural-urban differences in quality of care vary by race and ethnicity, and (3) how racial and ethnic differences in quality of care vary between rural and urban areas.
AmeriCorps VISTA Accepting Concept Papers for Projects to Alleviate Poverty
Volunteers in Service to America – also known as VISTA – is a federal service program that provides resources and staffing to public and nonprofit organizations to address poverty and poverty-related problems. AmeriCorps VISTA members are placed at sponsoring organizations and serve for one year at approximately 40 hours per week. The concept paper is a preliminary screening tool that AmeriCorps uses to evaluate whether the organization would be an appropriate VISTA sponsor and if the proposed project meets core criteria. Priorities include economic opportunity, education, access to health care, and environmental stewardship for rural areas, tribal communities, and areas of concentrated poverty. Accepting Papers Until January 18
Spread the Word About Health Insurance.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has a collection of tools for helping individuals and families get health insurance during the Marketplace Open Enrollment period, November 1, 2022, through January 15, 2023. Graphics, social media messages, and customizable posters and fact sheets, are available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese. Marketplace plans are an important source of coverage for people in rural areas, who represent approximately 15 percent of Marketplace enrollees in states using HealthCare.gov.
Surge in Pediatric Respiratory Infections
HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau is asking providers to share an important message about an unprecedented surge of respiratory illness in children. While the typical RSV season begins in late fall, this year’s outbreak started in the spring and severe illness continues to increase. Most children are exposed to the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, in the first year of life and almost all have been infected within 2 years. While RSV infections can be severe in the first 6 months, subsequent infections are usually milder, causing cold-like symptoms. During the first 18 months of the pandemic, masking and distancing measures kept the virus from circulating. But this year and last, as in-person gatherings increased and children when back to school and daycare without masks, the virus has affected kids with little to no immunity.
New Funding Available to Promote Affordable Broadband
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will make $70 million available to governmental and non-governmental entities to increase participation in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), an ongoing program that provides qualifying low-income households with discounts on broadband service and connected devices. The Affordable Connectivity Outreach Grant Program (Grants.gov posting) will make approximately 300 awards between $50,000 and $1 million each to eligible applicants including, but not limited to: state, local, and tribal governments; public housing agencies; social service providers; education organizations; nonprofit and community-based organizations. Funding Deadline January 9.
Review the Highlighting for Fiscal Year 2022 Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Investments
Over its 36-year history, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy has provided billions of dollars in funding to increase healthcare access, strengthen health networks, and focus on care quality improvements for Critical Access Hospitals and small rural hospitals. In the fiscal year 2022, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) – through the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) – provided approximately $408 million in funding to increase healthcare access, strengthen health networks, and focus on care quality improvements for Critical Access Hospitals and small rural hospitals as detailed in this HRSA Rural Health Fact Sheet.
FORHP is also supporting HRSA’s goal to achieve health equity by supporting efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery systems, reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with substance use disorder, and provide COVID-19 pandemic relief in rural communities. See this State-by-State summary for grants to rural communities and states.
Bulletin Addresses Pain, Mental Health, Substance Use, and Oral Health
The National Institute or Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIH) Oral Health in America November 2022 bulletin focuses on pain, mental health, substance use, and oral health. Mental health remains an important public health concern and closely linked to oral health. Severe mental illness can hinder access to oral health care.
New Research Explores Dental Care in Emergency Departments
The CareQuest Institute for Oral Health recently published research that explores dental care in hospital emergency departments. The research finds that most patients seeking care could be seen at a dental office for a much lower cost. Across the county, nearly 70% of emergency department visits for non-traumatic dental conditions among patients ages 21-64 are made by those enrolled in Medicaid or who are uninsured.
CMS Announces Payment for Medically Necessary Dental Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Medicare will begin making payment in 2023 for dental services necessary to identify and eliminate oral and dental infections prior to, and contemporaneously with, organ transplant, cardiac valve replacement, and valvuloplasty procedures. For services to be covered by Medicare, they must be performed by a Medicare participating provider. As part of the same final rule, the agency is establishing an annual process “to review public input on other circumstances when payment for dental services may be allowed.”