- Request for Information (RFI): Evolving the Network of the National Library of Medicine
- Dental Therapists, Who Can Fill Cavities and Check Teeth, Get the OK in More States
- Colorectal Cancer Is Rising among Younger Adults. Some States Want to Boost Awareness.
- 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
- Safe and Stable Housing Is a Foundation of Successful Recovery
- Rural RPM Program Is a Lifeline for Pregnant Women
- 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
The Managed Care Program Annual Report (MCPAR) Has Been Released
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations at 42 CFR § 438.66(e) require states to submit a Managed Care Program Annual Report (MCPAR). Under the regulation, each state must submit to CMS, no later than 180 days after each contract year, a report on each managed care program administered by the state. In June, Pennsylvania submitted four MCPA Reports: Behavioral HealthChoices, Community HealthChoices, Physical HealthChoices, and Adult Community Autism Program (ACAP).
Senator Fetterman Speaks Out on His Battle with Depression
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman graced the cover of the July 28, 2023, edition of Time magazine. In the accompanying cover story, How John Fetterman Came Out of the Darkness, Sen. Fetterman discusses his treatment for and recovery from severe depression. Also, in a recent interview with The New York Times, Sen. John Fetterman talked about missing his family, national interest in him, voting in a sweatshirt and shorts and the prospects of a second term for President Joe Biden, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
What Are We Doing to Address Loneliness as a Social Driver of Health?
The U.S. is experiencing an epidemic of loneliness, and studies suggest that cultivating better relationships with the people who live nearby is crucial for your happiness. An early 2023 Gallup survey found that 17% of American adults said they felt lonely “a lot of the day yesterday.” A lack of social connections is linked to poor mental health and even premature death. But living within a mile of a happy friend increases the likelihood that you’ll be happy by 25%, according to a multi-generational study. The problem is that a majority of Americans don’t know most of their neighbors. This sounds like a challenge that FQHCs as community-based organizations are up to! What can you do to support meaningful human connections in the communities you serve?
New Federal Office Will Focus on Long COVID
On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced a new office that will lead the federal response to Long COVID, the lingering effects of infection currently estimated to affect up to 23 million people in the U.S. Researchers and even insurers have already considered that long COVID could be “a mass disabling event” affecting economic productivity. The implications for rural communities are tied to higher rates of infection, lagging vaccination uptake, and lower rates of health insurance. Read more about the rural experience with Long COVID in a recent edition of The Rural Monitor.
Here You Can Read About State Differences in Recommended Components of Care Received During Postpartum Visits for Rural and Urban Residents, 2016-2019
Among key findings from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center: there is substantial state-level and rural-urban variation in the number of recommended care components (contraceptive counseling, depression screening, smoking screening, abuse screening, eating and exercise discussions, and birth spacing counseling) received during postpartum visits.
Here Are the Findings From the American Community Survey on Housing Quality by Disability, Race, Ethnicity, and Rural-Urban Location
The University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center examines information collected by the U.S. Census Bureau’s ongoing, annual survey that collects information on social, economic, housing, and demographic characteristics.
Comments Have Been Requested on Requirements Related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
In this proposed rule, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury propose several updates to strengthen the Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act of 2008 and better ensure that people seeking coverage for mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) care can access treatment as easily as people seeking coverage for medical treatments. In addition, this rule seeks public input on ways to improve the coverage of mental health and SUD benefits through other provisions of Federal law. Sixty percent of rural Americans live in mental health professional shortage areas. Non-metro adults were more likely than metro adults (43.7% vs. 34.5%) to see a general practitioner or family doctor, as opposed to a mental health specialist for depressive symptoms, and among non-metro adults with depression, fewer than 20% received treatment from a mental health professional. Comments are due by October 2, 2023.
CMS Updates Hospital Policies for Fiscal Year 2024, Including Rural Emergency Hospital Policies
On August 1, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-term Care Hospital payments (LTCH-PPS) for fiscal year 2024. Effective October 1, 2023, the IPPS rates will increase by 3.1% overall, increasing hospital payments by $2.2 billion. The rule continues the low wage index policy for FY 2024 and will treat rural classified hospitals as geographically rural for purposes of calculating the wage index. It finalizes a policy designating Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs) as graduate medical education (GME) training sites and codifies in regulation the information hospitals must include in their application to convert to an REH. The rule addresses policies around quality measurement, including the incorporation of a health equity adjustment for the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program. In addition, CMS received feedback from stakeholders on the potential future inclusion of two geriatric measures and on the establishment of a publicly reported hospital designation for geriatric care.
Medicare Finalizes SNF, IRF, IPF, and Hospice Payment Rules
CMS released final rules for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF), Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPF), and Hospices. Each rule updates Medicare payment and quality measurement policies for Fiscal Year 2024, which begins October 1. The final rules indicate a 3.3 percent increase in payments for rural SNFs, a 3.6 percent increase in payments for rural IRFs, a 2 percent increase in payments for rural IPSs, and a 2.8 percent increase in payments for rural hospices.
Read About the Frontier of Harm Reduction: Expanding Services for Rural People Who Use Drugs
Feature article in the latest Rural Monitor describes harm reduction approaches to help reduce health risks related to substance use. It explains how these approaches are being adopted in rural areas.