September 4, 2025
Research Alert: Supply, Distribution, and Access to Cardiologists, Neurologists, Oncologists, and Pulmonologists in the Rural and Urban U.S.
This study from the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center analyzes changes in the supply and distribution specialists – cardiologists, neurologists, oncologists, and pulmonologists – that treat the conditions associated with four of the top causes of rural mortality.
Click Here to Read Research Alert
September 4, 2025
Research Alert: Rural/Urban Differences in Health, Health Care Use, and Barriers to Care for Postpartum and Parenting Women, 2006-2018
Access to maternity care has been declining in rural communities, and rural residents face elevated risks of maternal morbidity and mortality. More than half of maternal deaths in the United States occur in the postpartum year.
The goal of this analysis from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center was to describe rural/urban differences in health, health care utilization, and barriers to care for reproductive-age females, with specific focus on those who are parents of young children (ages 1-4) and those who are postpartum (gave birth last year).
Click Here to Read Research Alert
September 4, 2025
Policy Brief: Rural Beneficiary Access to Medicare Advantage – Part D Plans
In 2023, there were nearly twice as many Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MA-PD) plans in metropolitan counties as in noncore (the most rural) counties, averaging about 29 plan choices for enrollees in metropolitan counties compared to 16 plans available to enrollees in noncore counties.
This policy brief from the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis updates RUPRI’s analysis of MA-PDs including enhanced benefit plan availability and variations in characteristics across metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore areas.
Click Here to Read the Policy Brief
September 4, 2025
September is National Recovery Month
First recognized in 1989, National Recovery Month promotes new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, supports the nation’s strong and proud recovery community, and highlights the dedication of communities and service providers who make recovery possible.
In honor of National Recovery Month, the White House proclaimed the week of August 31 as the 2025 Overdose Prevention Week to remember the lives lost, support grieving families, and review the nation’s solemn commitment to ending the overdose epidemic.
A variety of federal resources is available to support individuals and their families:
To learn more about programs created by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) to support recovery, visit the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) on HRSA’s website.
Each of the RCORP Centers of Excellence provides a clearinghouse of information and resources for prevention, treatment, and recovery that are specific to rural communities.
Recovery Resources
Click Here for SAMHSA’s National Recovery Month Resources and Tools
Click Here to Read Presidents’ Overdose Prevention Week Proclamation
Click Here for SAMHSA’s 2025 Recovery Month Toolkit
Click Here for CDC Stigma Reduction Guide
Click Here for the National Institute on Drug Abuse Preferred Language for Talking About Addiction
August 27, 2025
Apply Today for the 2025 NHSC Students to Service Loan Repayment Program
Up to $120,000 in tax-free loan repayment is now within reach! You can apply to the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Students to Service Loan Repayment Program if you are your final year of medical, nursing, or dental school.
A Maternity Care Target Area Supplemental Award of an additional $40,000 is available for physicians specializing in obstetrics, gynecology, or family medicine physicians who regularly practice obstetrics, as well as certified nurse midwives.
In exchange for a three-year service commitment, you can reduce your educational debt and launch your career where it’s needed most in high-need rural, tribal, or urban communities.
Click Here to Learn More & Apply
August 21, 2025
Comments Requested on Proposed Changes to the Medicare Hospital Cost Report, Comment by September 15
In the CY2026 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks comments on their proposal to require that hospitals include in their Medicare cost reports, beginning January 1, 2026, the median payer-specific charges that they have negotiated with Medicare Advantage organizations, by Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Groups.
The rule also requests comments on a proposed methodology hospitals would use to calculate the median payer-specific charge.
Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Emergency Hospitals, and hospitals operated by an Indian Health Program would not report median payer-specific charges on cost reports because these hospitals are not paid using the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS).
Click Here to Read Proposed Rule and Make Comment
Click the links below to learn more about:
August 21, 2025
Announcement for Providers that Reassign their Benefits to CAHs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that some Method II Critical Access Hospitals may be experiencing denials with Fiscal Intermediary Shared System (FISS) reason codes 31006 and 31007 indicating that providers do not have a reassignment on file in the Provider Enrollment Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS).
Medicare Administrative Contractors will reprocess these claims within approximately two weeks and Method II CAHs do not need to take any action.
Additional information to ensure eligible health care providers accurately reassign their benefits to Method II CAHs will be issued shortly.
Click Here to Learn More
August 20, 2025
Deadline Extended: Apply Today for the Rural Hospital Stabilization Program
The deadline to apply for the Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP) has been extended to Friday, August 22.
The program funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and administered by the National Rural Health Resource Center, helps hospitals improve financial stability through comprehensive assessment and planning that support data-driven decisions, expand needed services and keep care close to home.
Eligible hospitals include:
Hospitals that previously applied and would like to be reconsidered should contact stabilization@ruralcenter.org to update their existing application
Click the links below to learn more about RHSP
August 15, 2025
CMS Seeks Comments: Proposed Changes to the Overall Hospital Star Rating System, Comment by September 15
Published in the CY2026 Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Proposed Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requests feedback on their proposal to update how they calculate the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating, which summarizes a variety of quality measures across five areas into a single star rating for each hospital.
The five areas of quality are Safety of Care, Mortality, Readmission, Patient Experience, and Timely and Effective Care. CMS proposed to emphasize the contribution of the Safety of Care measure group in hospitals; ratings by limiting the total number of stars that hospitals with the lowest Safety of Care scores can earn.
They also propose that this change, if finalized, would only apply to hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals with at least 3 Safety of Care measures. CMS estimates that about 830 rural hospitals with star ratings had at least 3 Safety of Care measures in 2024.
Click Here to Learn More
August 15, 2025
Targeted Technical assistance for Rural Hospitals Program, Apply by September 30
Applications are being accepted to receive two years of technical assistance through this FORHP-supported program for rural hospitals interested in addressing financial and operational challenges and maintaining essential health services for their communities.
Technical assistance for this project is provided by the Center for Public Health practice and Research sat the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health, Georgia Southern University, and will begin November 2025.
Applications will continue to be accepted on a rolling basis year-round.
Click Here to Learn More and Apply
