Rural issues
The 2026 AHA Rural Health Care Leadership Conference, February 8-11 in San Antonio, will gather more than 1,000 rural health leaders committed to advancing rural health and providing quality care for patients and communities. The conference will feature top rural practitioners sharing actionable…
Rural Health News Update for November 20, 2025.
More than 57 million rural Americans depend on their hospital not only as an important source of care but also as a critical component of their area's economic and social framework. Rural hospitals also face the same difficulties shared by many hospitals — including financial stress, workforce…
The House Jan. 22 voted 341-88 to pass a three-bill minibus for fiscal year 2026 that includes funding for key health programs and other bipartisan health care provisions and extensions. The bill includes extensions of AHA-supported priorities, such as the Medicare-dependent hospital and…
Legislative reform recommendations for Congress to consider to further support flexible implementation and widespread participation in value-based and alternative payment models while delivering improvements in the cost and quality of care.
The White House hosted a roundtable on rural health Jan. 16 that included health care leaders, legislators and administration officials.
UnitedHealth Group announced Jan. 14 that it launched a six-month pilot program to reduce Medicare Advantage payment processing times by half for rural hospitals in four states.
The AHA Jan. 14 expressed support for the Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (S. 2169), legislation that would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to create a comprehensive workforce strategy to train cybersecurity professionals and develop partnerships to expand the…
The American Hospital Association expresses support for the Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act (S. 2169).
Tina Eden, R.N., CEO of Virginia Gay Hospital, and Jacinda Bunch, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor at the Iowa College of Nursing and senior advisor to Simulation in Motion-Iowa, or SIM-IA, dive into how this mobile clinical education program is delivering high-impact simulation training directly…