The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Shared Savings Program Fast Facts updates data on provider and beneficiary participation in an accountable care organization (ACO). An ACO is a group of healthcare providers that work together to coordinate care for Medicare patients. As of January 2025, 53.4% of beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare are enrolled in an accountable care relationship with a provider participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) accountable care models. In MSSP, the number of rural and safety net providers has grown since last year. There are now 2,872 Rural Health Clinics, 547 Critical Access Hospitals, and 7,036 Federally Qualified Health Centers participating.

This week, Tom Engels was sworn in as the HRSA Administrator, returning to a role he held from April 2019 to January 2021. Mr. Engels is originally from Wisconsin, where he began his political career as Governor Tommy Thompson’s Deputy Press Secretary and eventually served as the Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health Services. During his first term at HRSA, his tasks included overseeing the roll-out of the Provider Relief Fund created in response to the COVID pandemic, and he demonstrated an understanding of and appreciation for HRSA programs and staff, including support of Community Health Centers.

On Feb.5, Representatives Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and Angie Craig (D- MN) introduced the Health Care Workforce Innovation Act of 2025 (H.R. 935). Similar to the legislation Representative Craig authored last year, the bill aims to expand the workforce pipeline for local health care providers particularly CHCs. It creates a new HRSA grant program for this purpose but provides no funding for grants. Here are press releases from Representatives Garbarino and Craig.

Rep. Kathy L. Rapp (R-Warren/Crawford/Forest), Republican chair of the House Health Committee, announced her bill to provide financial incentives to recruit rural healthcare providers has unanimously passed the House Health Committee. House Bill 157, the reintroduction of House Bill 2382 from last session, would create the Rural Health Care Grant Program, which would allow specified facilities, including Federal Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to help certain providers in paying off their student loans. To be eligible to receive grant dollars, House Bill 157 would require: licensed nurses, physicians, midwives, dentists and dental hygienists to begin practicing at a rural hospital, FQHC, rural health clinic, or birth center within six months of accepting a position; be classified as full-time by working 30 hours or more per week, or 130 hours per month; and work in the facility for a minimum of three years.

The Senate voted to confirm President Trump’s embattled Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The vote: 52-48. Former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was the only Republican “no” vote. Kennedy will oversee 13 separate agencies, including a $1.7 trillion budget (that’s more than 20 percent of the U.S.’s spending). During his Senate hearing, Kennedy was grilled by Senator Warner (D-VA) on funding for Community Health Centers. Kennedy responds he and the President completely supports CHCs and no funding will be withheld.

This resource from the National Rural Health Resource Center provides guidance and assistance to state Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program personnel, leaders of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), and others helping CAHs manage long-term financial stability.

The Rural Health Research Program at the University of North Carolina (UNC) compiles a list of all hospitals operating in the U.S. as a downloadable resource to the public.  The newest list has all acute care and specialty hospitals that were open as of January 1, 2023, including their addresses, bed counts, rural/urban definitions, CMS rural payment designations (Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, Rural Emergency Hospitals), and more.  The UNC research center also keeps a running list of rural hospital closures since January 2005.

– Federal legislation under Section 126 the Consolidation Appropriation Act, 2021 authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to distribute additional residency positions (also known as slots) for physician training. RuralGME.org, the FORHP-supported organization that helps hospitals plan and develop rural residencies, has published an analysis of CMS released data on the 109 hospitals that received residency slots via the third round of Section 126 distributions on November 21, 2024. This analysis builds on FORHP’s previous examination of first and second round awardees and uses newly released CMS data to identify the rural status of the training sites of the selected residency programs. The application period for the next round of Medicare-funded slots opened the first week of January and runs through March 31, 2025. Eligible hospitals must use MEARIS, CMS’s online application system to apply for 200 newly available Section 126 slots and the 200 Section 4122 slots. The application period for Medicare-funded slots opened the first week of January and runs through March 31, 2025.

 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Shared Savings Program Fast Facts, updates data on provider and beneficiary participation in an accountable care organization (ACO). An ACO is a group of healthcare providers that work together to coordinate care for Medicare patients. As of January 2025, 53.4 percent of beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare are enrolled in an accountable care relationship with a provider participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) accountable care models. In MSSP, the number of rural and safety net providers has grown since last year.  There are now 2,872 Rural Health Clinics, 547 Critical Access Hospitals, and 7,036 Federally Qualified Health Centers participating.