U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Dr. Basil Gooden today announced that USDA is launching a new pilot program in 23 states, American Samoa and Puerto Rico to make it easier for rural homeowners to repair and rehabilitate their homes.

The pilot will help USDA’s Single Family Housing Home Repair Loans and Grants program better meet industry standards, while continuing to protect homeowners from fraud. It removes regulatory barriers to make it easier and faster for contractors to complete needed home repairs for rural homeowners.

To learn more, read the full Stakeholder Announcement.

A feature article in The Rural Monitor shares the 30-year history of the RUPRI Health Panel, a nonpartisan policy analysis group.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) announced that the 2025 monthly facility payment amount for REHs will be $285,625.90.  Congress created REHs to preserve access to emergency and outpatient services in rural areas.  Each REH receives the same Additional Facility Payment amount, and this payment is intended to support the operation and maintenance of the facility and furnishing of services. FORHP funds the Rural Health Redesign Center to provide 1:1 technical assistance to help hospitals and communities make informed decisions about converting to this model of care.

This brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center shares results from key informant interviews with representatives of rural Triads (multi-sectoral community-based partnerships that address elder abuse) to illuminate rural-specific dimensions of this issue.

Open-access commentary from JAMA Network examines trends in the rural-urban distribution of clinicians through the federal National Health Service Corps, proposing that the persistent gap should be addressed with policies more purposefully tailored to rural areas.  The authors reference new data about the number and distribution of NHSC clinicians reported in cross-sectional study also published in JAMA Network this week.

Check out the fiscal year 2024 data to see where HRSA-supported providers are serving. More than 21,000 clinicians are making an impact across the U.S. and its territories in the areas that need them most. You can filter data discipline, state or territory, rural status, and more.

The Economic Research Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture provides an overview of social and economic factors affecting rural America, with a focus on population migration, poverty, child care and elder care, broadband, and employment. The annual resource includes county-level maps as well as metro and nonmetro comparisons.

Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Dr. Val Arkoosh held a roundtable discussion to inform development of the Shapiro Administration’s Maternal Health Strategic Plan. The event also promoted the maternal health strategic plan survey, which aims to collect community input primarily focused on woman’s lived experiences during pregnancy and the postpartum period while receiving maternal health care in Pennsylvania. Read more.

Access to affordable, comprehensive health care for those in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is still available under the Affordable Care Act through Health Insurance Marketplaces nationwide, including Pennie. Enrolling in coverage is not considered a public charge determination and should have no impact on DACA recipient’s current status. There have not been any policy changes to date and enrollment assisters should continue to assist all those who do not qualify for Medicaid, Medicare or other coverages to preview options through Pennie by Dec. 15 for coverage to begin Jan. 1. The first initial premium payment must be made by Dec. 31 for policies to be made active.

In 2023, the Pennsylvania Insurance Department partnered with Texas A&M University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study barriers to accessing healthcare. The study found that only 13% of the provider listings had accurate contact information, and up to 44% of providers were unreachable because of incorrect information. The most common inaccuracies involved outdated contact information and incorrect specialty listings, which could mislead patients and lead to care delays and unexpected charges. The secret shopper survey of almost 7,000 providers listed in provider directories for Pennsylvania’s ACA Marketplace plans indicates that inaccuracies often persist for long periods of time and beyond the requirements set by recent federal law.