NRHA Supports Actions to Protect CAHs, Train Rural Physicians

Date: January 20, 2022

Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Antonio Delgado (D-N.Y.) recently sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) requesting to reverse a policy that puts vulnerable hospitals at risk of losing their Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status. “Ensuring that these vital, lifeline hospitals are able to maintain their payment status during and beyond the COVID-19 public health emergency is critical to the wellness of rural Americans,” says the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) Chief Executive Officer Alan Morgan. NRHA also supports the bipartisan Medical Student Education Authorization Act, which would reauthorize and expand the Medical Student Education Program for five years. “Programs like [this] are critical to ensuring rural communities have the workforce they need to provide services for their residents,” Morgan says. Physician Irfan Asif of the University of Alabama at Birmingham also offers tips for strengthening America’s health system, including growing the primary care pipeline. Your community perspective is needed to enact NRHA’s plans to ensure rural equity in federal health policy at NRHA’s virtual 33rd Rural Health Policy Institute Feb. 8-10.