Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Closing the Health Care Workforce Gap: Reforming Federal Health Care Workforce Policies to Meet the Needs of the 21st Century
Author(s): Daniel J. Derksen, Ellen-Marie Whelan
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Discusses how the nation can take steps in reforming the U.S. health care system to cover the uninsured, improve the quality of health care, cut overall costs and secure an adequate health care workforce.
Date: 12 / 2009
Impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Covered Persons as Amended
Author(s): Tim McBride
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
An analysis of the Patient Protection and Affordable Coverage Act (as amended on December 19, 2009 by the Senate Majority Leader’s Manager’s Amendment) using statistics and data to identify how it would reduce the number of uninsured in non-metropolitan areas.
Date: 12 / 2009
Equal Health Care for All: Opportunities to Address Health Care Disparities in Health Care Reform
Author(s): Lesley Russell
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Identifies how current efforts to reform the health care system provides an opportunity to address the disparities in access to services and quality of services to racial and ethnic minorities in the United States — particularly African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Hispanics, Native Hawaiians, and
Pacific Islanders.
Date: 12 / 2009
Comprehensive Congressional Health Reform Bills of 2009: A Look at Health Insurance, Delivery System, and Financing Provisions
Author(s): Sara R. Collins, Karen Davis, Rachel Nuzum, Sheila D. Rustgi, Stephanie Mika,Jennifer L. Nicholson
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Provides an overview of key provisions of the two separate comprehensive health reform bills passed by the five committees of jurisdiction in the U.S. Congress. Addresses issues associated with rural and underserved areas.
Date: 12 / 2009
Where are States Today? Medicaid and State-Funded Coverage Eligibility Levels for Low-Income Adults
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
A brief overview of low-income adults' current eligibility for Medicaid and other state-funded coverage programs and a discussion of how this coverage may be impacted by health reform.
Date: 12 / 2009
Health Care Opinion Leaders' Views on Medicare Reform
Author(s): Kristof Stremikis, Stuart Guterman, Karen Davis
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
This data brief contains summarized results from a survey of leaders in health care and health care policy on the topics of Medicare and legislative reform measures.
Date: 11 / 2009
Assuring Health Coverage for Rural People Through Health Reform
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller, Rebecca T. Slifkin, Erika Ziller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Rural Health Panel
Reports that rural residents have a higher uninsured rate than their urban counterparts, and describes health care reform initiatives that can help improve coverage of rural Americans.
Date: 10 / 2009
Lower Premiums, Stronger Businesses: How Health Insurance Reform Will Bring Down Costs for Small Businesses
Author(s): Meena Seshamani
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Argues through statistical analysis and research that health insurance reform will lower premiums for small businesses and lead to additional benefits.
Date: 10 / 2009
More Choices, Better Coverage: Health Insurance Reform and Rural America
Author(s): Julie Chang, Meena Seshamani, Joan Van Nostrand, Jenna Kennedy, Carrie Cochran
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Describes how the economic downturn may increase many of the health and access disparities that are already a problem in rural communities. Presents possible health insurance reform solutions.
Date: 10 / 2009
Recommendations in Blending House Committee Health Reform Legislation.
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
Outlines recommendations from the National Association of Community Health Centers for H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act, that focus on five priority provisions for health centers in underserved areas.
Date: 10 / 2009
Side-by-Side Comparison of Key Medicare Provisions in 2009 Health Reform Legislation
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Describes the major Medicare provisions relating to benefit changes, Medicare Advantage, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, physician and other provider payment reforms, and other health system reforms in the Senate Finance proposal and the House Tri-Committee bill. Includes measures related to rural and underserved communities.
Date: 10 / 2009
Medicaid and Childrens' Health Insurance Program Provisions: America's Affordable Health Choices Act & America's Healthy Future Act
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Highlights key questions about provisions related to Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and provisions that affect low-income individuals. Includes references to rural and changes that affect FQHCs and RHCs.
Date: 10 / 2009
Current State of Health Care for People with Disabilities
Author(s): Mary Lou Breslin, Silvia Yee, Tyler Zoanni, et al.
Sponsoring organization: National Council on Disability
Offers a broad range of recommendations for reforms that address some of the most significant obstacles to health, health care, disease prevention, and health promotion for people with disabilities in rural and urban environments.
Date: 09 / 2009
Persistent Primary Care Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) and Health Care Access in Rural America (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Mark P. Doescher, Meredith A. Fordyce, Susan M. Skillman, J. Elizabeth Jackson, Roger A. Rosenblatt
Sponsoring organization: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Reports that resources are needed to increase and sustain the number of primary care providers and reduce financial barriers to care in all rural primary care HPSAs.
Date: 09 / 2009
Sweet the Bitter Drought: Why Rural America Needs Health Care Reform
Author(s): Jon Bailey, Sally Kohn, Angie Evans
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Details issues facing rural Americans in the Health Care reform debate through researched feature reporting and interviews.
Date: 09 / 2009
Individuals with Special Needs and Health Reform: Adequacy of Health Insurance Coverage
Author(s): Karen Pollitz, Jennifer Libster, Molly O’Malley Watts
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Examines the health care needs of three individuals with extensive acute medical care and long-term service needs. Includes reference to Medicaid, FQHCs and Rural Health Clinics.
Date: 09 / 2009
Bitter Drought: Why Rural America Needs Health Care Reform
Author(s): Jon Bailey, Sally Kohn, Angie Evans
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Surveys issues facing rural America that could be addressed through health care reform.
Date: 09 / 2009
Health Insurance Reform and Medicare: Making Medicare Stronger for America's Seniors
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Identifies how health insurance reform could improve the quality of care in Medicare, reduce costs for seniors, ensure Medicare is there for them in the future, and that they have access to care in rural and underserved areas.
Date: 09 / 2009
Chairman’s Mark: America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Senate
Modifications to the chairman's mark of the health care reform bill as proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Includes details related to rural health care.
Date: 09 / 2009
Strengthening the Health Insurance System: How Health Insurance Reform Will Help America's Older and Senior Women
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Explains how health insurance reform can work to ensure that older and senior women get quality, affordable health care. Includes information on women's health in rural areas.
Date: 09 / 2009
America's Seniors and Health Insurance Reform: Protecting Coverage and Strengthening Medicare
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Report issued by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius that highlights the problems, including access to care in rural areas, that leave seniors paying higher costs for health care. Outlines how health insurance reform can strengthen Medicare and protect coverage for seniors.
Date: 08 / 2009
Cost of Inaction to Rural Communities: The Urgent Need for Health Care Reform Walthall County, Mississippi
Author(s): Anh Nguyen, Kelly Shaw-Sutherland, Keith Mueller
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Focuses on Walthall County, a small county located in southwestern Mississippi, which is dealing with the health care crisis.
Date: 08 / 2009
Cost of Inaction to Rural Communities: The Urgent Need for Health Care Reform Nemaha County, Nebraska
Author(s): Anh Nguyen, Kelly Shaw-Sutherland, Keith Mueller
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Identifies the health care challenges for rural communities, such as those in Nemaha County, Nebraska, which have been amplified by the current economic downturn.
Date: 08 / 2009
Cost of Inaction to Rural Communities: The Urgent Need for Health Care Reform Leake County, Mississippi
Author(s): Kelly Shaw-Sutherland, Anh Nguyen, Keith Mueller
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Examines Leake County, a rural Mississippi county, which embodies many of the problems of the U.S. health care crisis.
Date: 08 / 2009
Rural Health Care Workforce: Opportunities to Improve Care Delivery
Author(s): Melissa Loftis Florell
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Part of a series on health care reform that focuses on rural health care workforce.
Date: 08 / 2009
Health Care Reform: Toward More Freedom, and Responsibility, for Physicians
Author(s): Harold S. Luft
Addresses issues with the current health care system, including Medicare fee constraints, the shortage of primary care physicians, increasing costs, and restricted coverage. Suggests health care reform in the areas of ambulatory care and inpatient care.
Date: 08 / 2009
House Tri-Committee Health Reform Discussion Draft A Rural Commentary– July 13, 2009
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Andrew F. Coburn, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Rebecca T. Slifkin
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Document produced by the RUPRI Health Panel. Provides commentary as a means of contributing to the ongoing health reform dialogue.
Date: 07 / 2009
Health Insurance Profile Indicates Need for Reform in Rural Areas (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jennifer Lenardson, Erika Ziller, Andrew Coburn, Nathaniel Anderson
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural residents-particularly in the most remote rural communities-are in greater need of health reform, as demonstrated by an uninsured rate higher than that of urban residents. The rural-urban disparity in coverage is driven by higher uninsured rates among rural adults, a group that should be part of any strategic effort to improve coverage. Analyses are based on the 2004-05 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
Date: 07 / 2009
Explaining Health Care Reform: How Might a Reform Plan Be Financed?
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Explains the likely sources of added costs under reform, the types of financing measures being considered, and some of the key questions to be addressed by how a plan is financed.
Date: 07 / 2009
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (AAHCA) of 2009: Summary
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
Summarizes the AAHCA which addresses health coverage and choice, affordability, shared responsibility, controlling costs, prevention and wellness, and workforce investments. Prepared by the House Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor.
Date: 07 / 2009
America’s Affordable Health Choices Act (AAHCA) of 2009
Sponsoring organization: U.S. House of Representatives
Represents the Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, and Education and Labor committees' collective work (HR3200) that seeks to provide quality affordable health care for all Americans while controlling health care cost growth. Addresses rural and underserved areas.
Date: 07 / 2009
Why Rural America Needs a Public Health Insurance Plan
Author(s): Jon M. Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Examines arguments for a public health insurance plan, how the public health insurance plan would address the health care challenges that exist for rural areas, and how the choice of a public health insurance plan option is important to the viability of rural America.
Date: 07 / 2009
Medicare Buy-in Program
Author(s): Gerry Smolka, Sarah Thomas
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
Reviews the general advantages and disadvantages of a Medicare buy-in program in relation to the population in their 50s and early 60s and discusses geographic variation in Medicare spending and unsubsidized premiums.
Date: 06 / 2009
Crossing Our Lines: Working Together to Reform the U.S. Health System
Author(s): Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
Presents key findings from a bipartisan effort to develop consensus on policy recommendations for health care reform. Discusses considerations for rural and underserved areas.
Date: 06 / 2009
Payment Reform to Improve Health Care: Ways to Move Forward
Author(s): Ellen-Marie Whelan, Judy Feder
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Examines the most prominent payment reform proposals and innovative models to offer ways forward on health payment reform. Includes reference to rural.
Date: 06 / 2009
Finding Resources for Health Reform and Bending the Health Care Cost Curve
Author(s): Rachel Nuzum, Stephanie Mika, Cathy Schoen, Karen Davis
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Presents a menu of health reform options, along with impact estimates, to help policy leaders identify the resources required to make health coverage for all and improved health system performance a reality. Covers the Path option, which can assist small practices and rural areas in implementing effective Health Information Technology (HIT).
Date: 06 / 2009
Impact of the Recession on Rural America: Rising Unemployment Leading to More Uninsured in 2009
Author(s): Timothy McBride, Leah Kemper
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Presents the results of state and county analysis of unemployment rates nationally in urban and rural (non-metropolitan) areas over the period 2007-February 2009 and discusses the impact of rising unemployment on uninsurance in rural areas and their combined impact on the need for health care reform.
Date: 06 / 2009
Rural-Urban Comparison of a Building Blocks Approach to Covering the Uninsured (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Timothy McBride
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Uses a health insurance model to compare the effects of a building blocks approach on health insurance coverage and health spending, focusing on the geographic differences (by metropolitan and non-metropolitan) of this approach.
Date: 06 / 2009
National Telemedicine Initiatives: Essential to Healthcare Reform
Author(s): Rashid L. Bashshur, Gary W. Shannon
Sponsoring organization: American Telemedicine Association
Describes how telemedicine initiatives are an integral part to health reform strategies. Identifies the benefits of telemedicine to rural communities.
Date: 06 / 2009
Highlights of Rural Perspective/Commentary Regarding "Proposed Health System Savings and Revenue Options" (Executive Summary)
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Contains the executive summary of commentary from the Rural Health Panel on proposed options for comprehensive health care reform and the effects on rural areas.
Date: 06 / 2009
Rural Perspective/Commentary Regarding, "Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Proposed Health System Savings and Revenue Options" (Full Report)
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Andrew F. Coburn, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Rebecca T. Slifkin
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Provides commentary from the Rural Health Panel on the Senate Finance Committee's May 20, 2009 proposed options for comprehensive health care reform and the effects on rural areas.
Date: 06 / 2009
Economic Impact of Healthcare Reform on Small Business
Sponsoring organization: Small Business Majority
Analyzes the type of healthcare reform that is emerging from the current debate and how it will save small businesses costs, protect wages and jobs and allow small business owners to continue to invest in and strengthen the economy.
Date: 06 / 2009
Highlights of Rural Perspective/Commentary Regarding "Proposed Options to Provide Affordable Coverage to All Americans" (Executive Summary)
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Rural Health Panel
Provides highlights from the commentary on the Senate Finance Committee document on affordable health coverage for all Americans and the rural implications of this proposed policy.
Date: 06 / 2009
Rural Perspective/Commentary Regarding "Expanding Health Care Coverage to All Americans" (Full Report)
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Andrew F. Coburn, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Rebecca T. Slifkin
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Rural Health Panel
Provides commentary from the Rural Health Panel on proposed options for expanding health care coverage that have a special, significant meaning for rural areas.
Date: 06 / 2009
Bill: Affordable Health Choices Act
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Senate
Introduces the first health care reform bill by the Senate HELP committee. Portions of the bill could directly impact rural and underserved communities, rural health clinics, and community health centers. Proposes new plans for trauma centers, benefits through the Community Living Assistance Services & Supports (CLASS) Act, insurance plans for small business and self-employers, healthcare workforce issues, a public health intervention program.
Date: 06 / 2009
Rural Health Associations for Health Reform: A Letter to the Senate Finance Committee
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Association
Addresses the need for health reform in rural America in a letter to Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley urging them to champion rural America within Congressional health reform discussions.
Date: 06 / 2009
Rural Perspective/Commentary Regarding "Financing Comprehensive Health Care Reform: Proposed Health System Savings and Revenue Options" (Narrative Table, May 20, 2009)
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Rural Health Panel
Contains a table of financing options with narration regarding the U.S. Senate Finance Committee's proposals for comprehensive health care reform.
Date: 05 / 2009
Highlights of Rural Perspective/Commentary Regarding "Proposed Options to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs" (Executive Summary)
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Highlights comments from the RUPRI (Rural Policy Research Institute) Health Panel on the Senate Finance Committee document for the purpose of discussion on rural implications of proposed policy reform options.
Date: 05 / 2009
Rural Perspective/Commentary Regarding "Transforming the Health Care Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs" (Full Report)
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller, Andrew F. Coburn, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Rebecca T. Slifkin
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute
Outlines the potential impact on rural America of the proposed policy reform options from the Senate Finance Committee in this full report of the RUPRI Health Panel.
Date: 05 / 2009
Mental Health: Overlooked and Disregarded in Rural America
Author(s): Dr. Dianne Travers Gustafson, Kim Preston, Julia Hudson
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Details mental health issues in rural America, including barriers to care such as geography and social stigma. Names mental health as one of the top 10 health reform issues for rural America.
Date: 05 / 2009
Private Health Insurance in Rural Areas: Challenges and Reform Options (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Erika Ziller, Andrew Coburn
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural residents are less likely than their urban counterparts to have private health insurance coverage.
Date: 04 / 2009
Causes and Consequences of the Rural Uninsured and Underinsured
Author(s): Joe Blankenau, Jon M. Bailey, Julia Hudson
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Details health insurance coverage in rural America. Includes how rural citizens get insurance coverage and how it differs from urban America, reviews research that explores obstacles in attaining health insurance, addresses the problem of underinsurance, and explores the impact of inadequate financing for health care and its effects on the community. Concludes that health care reform must address the employer-sponsored health insurance system.
Date: 04 / 2009
Health Reform: Delivering for Those Who Deliver Health Care
Author(s): Robert A. Berenson, Ellen-Marie Whelan
Sponsoring organization: Center for American Progress
Discusses how providers have an essential role in shaping health care reform, to improve the system, and to better serve their patients.
Date: 04 / 2009
Primary Care Access: An Essential Building Block of Health Reform
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
Examines why primary care can be the foundation of any health care reform effort, and how
building on the success of Community Health Centers could anchor primary care health access in communities that have been unable to sustain sources of stable, high quality health care.
Date: 03 / 2009
Hard Times in the Heartland: Health Care in Rural America
Author(s): Meena Seshamani, Joan Van Nostrand, Jenna Kennedy, Carrie Cochran
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Discusses the current state of health care in rural areas and the need for health care reform. Covers the use and cost of insurance and health care for farm and ranch operators, poverty and unemployment rates, health disparities, and the state of health care provider workforce in rural America.
Date: 03 / 2009
10 Rural Issues for Health Care Reform
Author(s): Jon M. Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Examines the health care issues and challenges facing rural America including: increased heath care costs, large numbers of uninsured and underinsured, and an overextended health care infrastructure.
Date: 03 / 2009
Rural Coverage Gaps Decline Following Public Health Insurance Expansions
Author(s): Ericka Ziller, Andrew Coburn
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Assesses how uninsured rates and sources of coverage have changed since the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) was enacted. Compares the health insurance coverage of rural and urban residents in 1997 and 2005. Discusses implications for health insurance reform
Date: 02 / 2009
State of the States: Charting a Course
Author(s): Enrique Martinez-Vidal, Isabel Friedenzohn, Shelly Ten Napel, Anne Bulchis, Colin McGlynn
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Reviews the full range of individual state activity on health reform during 2008 and provides facts about the number and percent of uninsured Americans.
Date: 01 / 2009
Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity in Rural America
Author(s): Joe Blankenau
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Reports that obesity is more prevalent for rural adults than urban adults. Provides examples that can be used to promote and enhance nutrition, health, wellness, and physical activity in rural communities. Concludes that health reform plans should address school nutrition programs.
Date: 01 / 2009
Reforming Physician Payments to Achieve Greater Value in Health Care Spending: A Position Paper of the American College of Physicians
Author(s): Brett Baker, Robert Doherty,
Sponsoring organization: American College of Physicians
Contains the American College of Physicians recommendations aimed at comprehensive reform of the payment system to physicians and that improves coordination of care across providers including rural practices.
Date: 2009
Health Center Related Provisions of Congressional Health Reform Proposals
Sponsoring organization: National Association of Community Health Centers
Summarizes rural community health center and other key provisions within health reform legislation being considered by Congress. Uses a table to regularly update and compare proposals by the Senate and House committees. Updates released January 2010.
