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KFF Health News covers the health issues facing people who live in America’s rural reaches.
KFF Health News is working to collect and post complete application materials, by state, here and will update this repository as new materials, released in response to public records requests, arrive.
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Patients in rural northeastern Nevada soon will have fewer providers and resources, after a local hospital decided to close its medical residency program. Nationally, the number of rural residency slots has grown during the past few years but still makes up just 2% of programs and residents nationwide.
Georgia is among 35-plus states that have used an under-the-radar federal funding mechanism to boost payments for hospitals and other providers under Medicaid. But a government watchdog and a congressional advisory commission say sparse oversight makes it hard to tell if the “directed payments” program is meeting its goals.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed federal protections for abortions, medical providers in conservative-led states have been fighting legal and political battles — as well as escalating threats from the anti-abortion movement.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
At least eight states have implemented or are considering limits on what patients can be billed for the use of a hospital’s facilities even without having stepped foot in the building.
A recent policy change in Minnesota promotes quick evaluations and care for people with substance use disorders. But because of gaps riddling rural treatment systems nationwide, the promise of swift care isn’t reaching rural Minnesotans.
Doctors have no national standards on when to order urine tests to check whether adult ADHD patients are properly taking their prescription stimulants. Some patients are subjected to much more frequent testing than others.
A federal lawmaker has introduced a House bill that would close one of a laundry list of oversight gaps revealed in a recent KHN investigation of the system regulators use to ban fraudsters from billing government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid.
The study analyzed Colorado kids’ responses to how quickly they could get their hands on a loaded gun without their parents’ knowledge. More than 1 in 10 said they could do so within 10 minutes.
It’s about the money — on both sides — as arguments swirl about patient safety, rising prices, and paying back on-the-job training.
The ranks of community-based behavioral health providers in Montana have diminished amid rising costs, greater need, and stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates. Now, as state lawmakers debate solutions, providers are hoping just to cover their costs.
A year after private equity-backed Noble Health shuttered two rural Missouri hospitals, a slew of lawsuits and state and federal investigations grind forward. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey recently confirmed an “ongoing” investigation as former employees continue to go unpaid and cope with unpaid medical claims.
Fresh produce prescription programs are getting a boost in Montana as a way of helping people with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. The approach may be a model for other rural states to promote healthy eating in food deserts.
The May 11 expiration of the federal government’s pandemic emergency declaration will affect patient care across a broad range of settings, including telemedicine, hospitals, and nursing homes.
In-person mental health care is hard to arrange in rural nursing homes, so video chats with faraway professionals are filling the gap.
Mobile clinics that provided covid-19 testing and vaccines at the peak of the pandemic are now being used to provide a range of health services in hard-to-reach communities. A law passed late last year allows qualified health care centers to use federal grants to expand the fleets.
Since 2005, central Appalachia has recorded a tenfold increase in cases of severe black lung disease among long-term coal miners. Now, federal regulators are expected to propose a new rule to protect against silica dust, which causes the most severe form of black lung, progressive massive fibrosis.
Financial pitfalls at the nation’s highest-elevation hospital serve as a cautionary tale as rural hospitals emerge from the pandemic on shaky ground.
Hospitals in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma are among the first to apply for a new rural hospital payment model that shifts the focus of services away from overnight stays to outpatient and emergency care. Still, experts say the law needs to be amended to provide the right mix of care for rural communities.
President Joe Biden said in his State of the Union address that federal funds will pay to replace lead pipes in hundreds of thousands of schools and child care centers. In the meantime, schools are dealing with high lead levels now.
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