Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements

March 12, 2020

What’s New

Congressional Research Service on HRSA Maternal Health Programs. The Congressional Research Service provides objective policy and legal analysis to committees and members of the U.S. House and Senate.  For this report, researchers provide an overview of five maternal health programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), including the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program, a pilot program that aims to improve access to services in rural areas.

Updates on the Coronavirus.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides daily updates on the Coronavirus with guidance for health providers and local public health officials.  Our grantees come from a variety of organizational settings. Some are community based and may represent small hospitals, clinics and non-profit programs.  Others are focused on telehealth and may be part of larger health systems or located in an academic setting with links to small rural hospitals and clinics.  We also fund States as well as rural health research centers, most of which have an academic affiliation. As a result, we recommend grantees follow the guidance of your home institution. Please stay in contact with your FORHP point of contact to keep us informed of changes in operations.  The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is monitoring and following the recommendations of the CDC, as well as guidance specific to federal agencies.  We are also monitoring the information and guidance provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is releasing information on administrative flexibility and the availability of new billing codes.