The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a new resource: CMS Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Health Care Provider Toolkit: Resources for Health Care Professionals to Support Individuals with SCD .

This new toolkit builds on the CMS Sickle Cell Disease Action Plan (released in September 2023) to strengthen the infrastructure for primary care and other care settings to care for people with SCD, improve care management, and assist providers with supporting the needs of people with SCD and other chronic conditions. The SCD Toolkit consists of 6 sections that equip healthcare providers in delivering quality care to individuals with sickle cell disease. This toolkit is designed to assist the care team in supporting people by introducing SCD, including the common barriers to care, and summarizing CMS program coverage for services around social determinants and drivers of health as well as and new sickle cell disease treatments.

This policy brief from the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) examines the results of a demonstration project created by ACF’s Office on Trafficking in Persons for Native Communities.  Analysts describe how six communities chosen for the project used culture as a resource to integrate values, beliefs, traditions, and activities into various project strategies and services offered.

A new feature article in The Rural Monitor provides a historical review of graduate medical education funding and its relationship to the supply of rural physicians.

Rural Health Value is an initiative funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to provide analysis, technical assistance, and strategy for rural health care delivery.  Along with a new website and logo, they’ve launched two new resources to help rural healthcare organizations, payers, and communities make the transition from volume-based to value-based health care and payment models:

• Rural Value-Based Care – The Payer Perspective, Rural Health Value Summit Report
• A one-page summary of CMS’s Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) (p.30)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has an updated factsheet for its Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP) Demonstration. The model tests new models of health care delivery in the most sparsely populated rural counties by waiving certain Medicare requirements regarding skilled nursing facility beds, telehealth, and ambulance services.  In the initial demonstration period (August 2016 through July 2019), CMS received applications from Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in Montana, Nevada, and North Dakota (though eligible to apply, CAHs in Alaska and Wyoming did not apply). The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 extended FCHIP.  Five CAHs in Montana and Nevada are continuing their participation with the goal of improving health and reducing Medicare expenditures.

– Effective January 1, 2025. On November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule updating payment rates and policies under the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for renal dialysis services for Medicare beneficiaries. This rule includes updates to base payment rates, a modified low volume payment adjustment, new inclusion of oral-only dialysis drugs in bundled payments, and coverage for home dialysis services for beneficiaries with acute kidney injury.

– Effective January 1, 2025. On November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the calendar year 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule to update payments for physicians and other providers under the PFS and other Medicare Part B policies. The rule contains updates for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), like the ability to bill for administration of Part B vaccines at the time of service beginning July 1, 2025, removal of RHC productivity standards, changes to the Conditions of Certification, changes to required lab services, and new care coordination billing processes. CMS continues several telehealth flexibilities through the end of 2025, and changes for behavioral health, opioid treatment programs, and more are also in the rule. Learn how these changes affect Rural Health Clinics at the NARHC webinar listed under Learning Events below.

This policy brief presents findings from key informant interviews with nine administrators representing rural hospitals in seven states (Arkansas, California, Illinois, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia). Using content analysis of interview data, researchers share findings around hospital and community-level implications of medical debt, and policies that may help or hinder this issue.

Building from the Medicaid Transportation Coverage Guide issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2023, this fact sheet helps clarify and encourage partnership at the state level and includes commonly asked questions and relevant resources.  Stakeholders, such as state Departments of Transportation staff, provided input into the document.  Many FTA public transit grantees offer NEMT, providing vital access to health care for low-income Medicaid beneficiaries, particularly in rural areas. Research has found that Medicaid covers a relatively greater share of individuals in rural counties than in urban counties.

– December 12.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requests nominations for members to their newly formed Health Equity Advisory Committee (HEAC).  This Committee will advise and make recommendations to CMS on how they can promote quality and access for beneficiaries in all CMS programs, like Medicare and Medicaid. Nominations must be submitted by email to HEAC@cms.hhs.gov with the subject line “HEAC Nomination” by December 12.