– The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is pleased to support the Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP), a new initiative designed to assist rural hospitals in improving their financial stability and meeting community health care needs. Administered by FORHP through a grant to the National Rural Health Resource Center, this program offers no-cost assistance to rural hospitals to enhance or expand health care services such as pulmonary rehabilitation, outpatient behavioral health services, and primary care, ensuring care remains accessible close to home. To learn more about RHSP, join the introductory webinar next week.

In the United States, access to maternity care in rural counties continues to decline. Last week, JAMA Network published a research article from the FORHP-funded University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center showing that rural counties with no hospital-based obstetric services increased from 54 percent of rural counties in 2014 to almost 59 percent in 2022. The study authors discussed their findings in a recent Gateway webinar – Access to Maternity Care in Rural U.S. Communities. The presentation described disparities in maternal health outcomes for rural populations, the growing scarcity of obstetric care, and the far-reaching consequences of obstetric unit closures.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides a recording of their webinar highlighting tools and resources related to rural health, accomplishments, and future plans. Discusses the USDA Rural Health Program Index Tool, the Rural Development Innovation Center, the USDA Rural Health website, and the Rural Data Gateway.

The toolkit supports efforts to increase patient and community engagement in prevention, screening, and management of a cancer that is highly treatable if found early. Materials include social media posts, posters, a cervical screening follow-up card, and more. The toolkit and materials are available in English and Spanish.  In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported higher rates of cervical cancer for rural residents than urban. The FCCC is a multi-year federal partnership that bridges the federal priorities of cancer research and health care delivery in safety net settings of care. This resource is a companion to the Toolkit to Build Provider Capacity publicly available on the FCCC resources page in the headline link.

This feature article in The Rural Monitor describes how an urban nonprofit organization collaborated with a regional health care system and a rural physician’s office to create a network that brings comprehensive cancer care to residents in rural Georgia. The Southeastern Rural Cancer Care Network used federal funds administered by FORHP’s Community-Based Division through the Rural Health Care Coordination Program.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design Model (VBID) is ending on December 31, 2025. CMS is ending the model due to negative financial performance. Through the model, participating MA plans have had greater flexibility in serving high needs and underserved beneficiaries, and many of the lessons learned from the model have been incorporated into the MA program as a whole. Upon the model’s end, some beneficiaries in VBID MA plans may need to select a new MA plan or go back to traditional Medicare in 2026.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance last month providing clarity on how Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) may leverage space sharing arrangements with other healthcare entities, such as private physician practices, to increase access to care and services within the community, while maintaining independent compliance with all applicable Conditions of Participation (CoPs).  Because CAHs must maintain a specified distance from another hospital or CAH, they cannot share space with these types of facilities.  This guidance explains how a CAH may share space with other types of health care providers through either a ‘time share’ arrangement or a ‘leased space’ arrangement and meet requirements of their CoPs.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) all-inclusive rate for calendar year (CY) 2025. The payment limit per visit for independent and provider-based RHCs in hospitals with 50 or more beds is $152.00. The payment limit per visit for specified provider-based RHCs, with an April 1, 2021 established payment limit, that continue to meet the qualifications in section 1833(f)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act is the greater of these amounts: 1) Your payment limit per visit starting January 1, 2024, increased by 3.5 percent; 2) The national statutory CY 2025 payment limit per visit of $152.00. For more information see the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 9, section 20.2 and Instruction to your Medicare Administrative Contractor.

 – Comment by February 17.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is soliciting comments to inform future decision-making regarding how the agency can best protect Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) and Medicare beneficiaries. MBIs have been targeted by individuals seeking to commit Medicare fraud, including the use of MBI lookup tools to commit MBI theft. CMS is seeking input and information related to the following topic areas:

• Organizations that operate an externally-controlled MBI lookup tool;
• Users of MBI lookup tools, both CMS-operated and externally-controlled;
• Potential benefit or impact of prohibiting or restricting externally-controlled MBI lookup tools;
• Safeguards or best practices from inside or outside healthcare that CMS should consider for preventing MBI theft and misuse.

Visit the link in the headline for more information and the full list of questions.  To provide comments, fill out and submit the survey by Monday, February 17.

This policy brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center examines elements of state-level elder abuse statutes’ definitions and reporting requirements to investigate potential differences in these policies by state rurality.