The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis has released a new brief on Medicare Advantage Plan Growth in Rural America: Availability of Supplemental Benefits Key Findings Include READ THE BRIEF HERE
The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services (NACRHHS) has released a new policy brief, Childcare Need & Availability in Rural Areas. The NACRHHS advises the Secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services on health & human service challenges in rural America. The Committee members offer the following policy recommendations for …
The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services (NACRHHS) released a policy brief and recommendations to the Secretary of HHS on Rural Emergency Medical Services. Read the Brief Here The NACRHHS examines pertinent issues that affect the health and well-being of rural Americans through discussions with rural stakeholders. Following each meeting, the Committee …
The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services (NACRHHS) released a policy brief and recommendations to the Secretary of HHS on the Rural Emergency Hospital Designation. Read the Brief Here The NACRHHS examines pertinent issues that affect the health and well-being of rural Americans through discussions with rural stakeholders. Following each meeting, the …
The RUPRI Health Panel Releases Evolution of Hospital Designations & Payment in the U.S.: Implications for Rural Hospitals Rural hospital closures have increased over the past few decades, and more are at risk for closure. Medicare hospital payment policies affecting rural hospitals play a significant role in the financial viability of rural hospitals. Programs have been …
Meeting the Behavioral Health Needs of Farm Families in Times of Economic Distress. Given recent global economic and climate trends, including those induced by the COVID-19 public health emergency, behavioral health consequences related to economic distress will likely continue as a public health concern for the foreseeable future. The RUPRI Health Panel offers guidance for …
This document updates the RUPRI Health Panel’s framework for a high-performing rural health care system, originally published in 2011. It offers a revised vision statement and updates the high-performing rural health system pillars (access, affordability, community health, and quality), and describes an underlying base of equity considerations. Abstract: This brief presents the RUPRI Health Panel’s …
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The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis releases this report on Pharmacy Vaccination Service Availability in Nonmetropolitan Counties. In February 2021 the White House announced the launch of the first phase of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination. The “public-private partnership with 21 national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies” is …
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The RUPRI Health Panel has released a new brief, Characteristics and Challenges of Rural Ambulance Agencies. Every year, nearly 10 million rural Americans receive EMS care. There are 23,272 ambulance agencies in the U.S. and 73 percent of those agencies report serving rural areas. Thus, rural Americans rely on EMS professionals to deliver life-saving emergency …
The RUPRI Health Panel has released a new paper, Advancing Population Health in Rural Places: Key Lessons and Policy Opportunities. This paper advances policy discussion of population health in rural places, focusing on the role of rural health care organizations. Lessons from ongoing programs provide policy considerations. Medicare and Medicaid programs should prioritize staff and …
Continue reading “Advancing Population Health in Rural Places. RUPRI Health Panel. January 2021.”
In September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMMI) released the notice of funding opportunity for the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Community Transformation Track. CMMI states that the “CHART Model will test whether aligned financial incentives, increased operational flexibility, and robust technical support promote rural health care providers’ capacity …
Continue reading “Rural Health Value to Hold Webinar on CHART Planning – December 14”
Health Panel member Jennifer Lundblad participated on a Panel at the Bipartisan Policy Center in October 2020 on the state of rural healthcare in Minnesota and other states. View Presentation
The RUPRI Health Panel has released a new brief that identifies key questions to ask when creating, modifying, or using a definition. Rural definitions in statute and policy are used to direct resources to underserved peoples. But changes in population behavior and Census processes have led to concern about historic methods of defining rural. This …
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The RUPRI Rural Health Panel, through the support of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) in the Department of Health and Human Services, has released a new Policy Brief, Assessing the Unintended Consequences of Health Policy on Rural Populations and Places. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate the unintended consequences of health …
September 17, 2018 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Current U.S. policy utilizes various market-based models within Medicare, Medicaid, and Health Insurance Marketplaces to ensure access to health insurance coverage, but access is increasingly uneven and unaffordable, especially in some rural areas. After giving an overview of some of the relevant economic theory, this webinar will take …
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This paper discusses the realities and challenges of designing a market structure that will result in affordable health insurance being offered in rural markets, and reviews the rural implications of policies affecting rural health insurance markets and health systems. Written by Keith J. Mueller (PhD), Charlie Alfero (MA), Andrew F. Coburn (PhD), Jennifer P. Lundblad …
Rural Long-Term Services and Supports: A Primer provides policymakers and other interested stakeholders a primer on rural long-term services and supports (LTSS): (1) the fundamentals of the rural LTSS system, (2) rural access to and use of LTSS, and (3) discussion of the opportunities within and limitations of current Federal and State LTSS policy for advancing …
This presentation discusses the transformation underway as a result of payer policies designed to improve the value and outcomes of health care while attempting to slow cost growth. It also touches on gaps affecting rural people, places, and providers. Presented by Jennifer P. Lundblad, PhD (President and CEO, Stratis Health; Member RUPRI Health Panel) on …
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The RUPRI Health Panel describes opportunities for rural communities to develop a high-performance rural health system after hospital closure, including three case studies that describe real-world transitions from a hospital-based locus of care to new models of care delivery in rural places. After Hospital Closure: Pursuing High Performance Rural Health System without Inpatient Care This paper describes …
In Health & Hospitals Networks latest publication, Jennifer Lundblad, RUPRI Health Panel Member and president and CEO of Stratis Health, discusses how rural hospitals and rural communities are well-positioned to create innovative population health and wellness programs. “A rural environment lends itself to population health and wellness,” she says. “Providers probably know the patient and their family, they …
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Medicare Accountable Care Organizations: Beneficiary Assignment Update This brief updates Brief No. 2014-3 and explains changes in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Accountable Care Organization (ACO) regulations issued in June 2015 pertaining to beneficiary assignment for Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs. Overall, the regulatory changes are intended to (1) encourage ACOs to …
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View Report | Related: View Policy Brief In recognition of unsustainable healthcare cost growth and sub-optimal delivery system performance, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) contains provisions that redesign healthcare payment and delivery. ACA payment change provisions are driving delivery system reform by making healthcare organizations more accountable for patients’ health …
This joint paper was authored by members of both the Health and Human Services Panel in June 2015. The paper presents a case for the viability of Accountable Care Community (ACC) models in rural communities, including in rural Humboldt County, California. Accountable Care Communities reflect a unified approach to improving the health and reducing the …
Presented by the Rural Policy Research Institute Health Panel: Keith Mueller, PhD; Timothy McBride, PhD; Andrew Coburn, PhD. At the Annual Meeting of the National Rural Health Association in April 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. View Presentation
This brief outlines and describes the current Medicaid program and its importance to rural America. It also discusses rural implications of program expansion, including whether and how states choose to implement changes. View Report This report was written by Health Panel Members Keith Mueller, Andrew Coburn, Jennifer Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy McBride, Sidney Watson …
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The RUPRI Health Panel offers an aspirational vision, for a highperformance rural health care system. The RUPRI Health Panel envisions rural health care that is affordable andaccessible for rural residents through a sustainable health system thatdelivers high quality, high value services. A high performance rural healthcare system informed by the needs of each unique rural …
Continue reading “The High Performance Rural Health Care System of the Future. RUPRI Health Panel.”
Place-Based Policies and Public Health: The Road to Healthy Rural People and Places View Report This joint paper by the RUPRI Health Panel and Human Service Panel examines how effective place-based policies can influence how rural and metropolitan areas develop, how well they function as places to live, work, operate a business, preserve heritage, and …
View Report The ACA calls for the development of a National Health Care Quality Strategy and Plan (National Quality Strategy) that, by definition, will affect health care that is delivered to millions of Americans who live in rural areas and thousands of health care providers who care for them. The goal of this paper is …
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View Report This Policy Paper assesses legislative proposals to add an outpatient prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program and their implications for the delivery of services and the welfare of beneficiaries in rural areas. Included are comments on five proposals introduced in the 107th Congress: one that was passed by the House of Representatives, …
View report The enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) dramatically changed the context for discussions of Medicare policy. Two major pathways for discussion were identified: Appropriate and equitable payment for services, either through traditional fee-for service (FFS) Medicare payments or through Medicare+Choice monthly premiums; and Appropriate and necessary changes to the program …
Continue reading “Redesigning Medicare: Considerations for Rural Beneficiaries and Health Systems”
View Report This paper summarizes provisions of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA) and assesses the impact of those provisions on rural health care delivery. Congress passed BIPA on December 15, 2000, and President Clinton signed it on December 21. This report was written by Health Panel members: …
View Report This paper was jointly prepared by the Maine Rural Health Research Center and the RUPRI (Rural Policy Research Institute) Rural Health Panel to offer a rural perspective on the current debate over the design and implementation of a Medicare prescription drug benefit. Background information on rural Medicare beneficiaries’ need for, and access to, …
View Draft Report The enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) changed dramatically the context for discussions of Medicare policy. Policy discussions since the BBA have sharpened two major pathways for dialogue/debate: appropriate and equitable payment for services, either through traditional Medicare fee-for-service payments or through Medicare+Choice monthly premiums; and appropriate and necessary …
The Area Wage Index of the Medicare Inpatient Hospital Prospective Payment System: Perspectives, Policies, and Choices View Policy Paper This policy paper discusses the positions of various rural health advocates on the wage index and recording the actions taken by Congress and the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to improve the wage index.Finally, it outlines …
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View Policy Paper This Policy Paper combines the work from current projects of the Maine Rural Health Research Center (MRHRC) and the Rural Health Panel of the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) to provide a statement of specific rural considerations and objectives for any proposal that would add a prescription drug benefit to the Medicare …
View policy brief This policy brief explains how the area wage index is calculated and used, and identifies the major unresolved issues related to its calculation and use. This report was written by Anthony Wellever (Delta Rural Health Consulting and Research) in collaboration with RUPRI Health Panel Members: Andrew Coburn, Charles Fluharty, J. Patrick Hart, …
View Report This Policy Paper provides a critique of two proposals to redesign the Medicare program: the “Medicare Preservation and Improvement Act of 1999” (S. 1895, introduced by Senator Breaux and others) and “The President’s Plan to Modernize and Strengthen Medicare for the 21st Century.” Rural implications of the proposals are discussed, specifically how they …
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View Report This policy brief describes the experience to date with the Medicare+Choice program, focusing on changes in enrollment and plan formationthrough Fall 1999. We include a particular focus on changes occurring inrural counties. This updates previous reports by the RUPRI Health Panelon the progress of the Medicare+Choice program. This report was written by Health …
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The University of Iowa
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