Health policy

Current Projects

Assessing the Community Impact of the MMA
Research center: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health policy, Legislation and regulation, Medicare, Medicare Part D
This project will measure the community-level impacts of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) and will provide feedback to policymakers regarding the impact of the MMA on its policy targets (providers and beneficiaries), in the context of rural places.

Examining the Applicability of the AHRQ's Inpatient Quality Indicators to Rural Hospitals and the Implications of the Relationship Between the Indicators and Financial Measures for Medicare Payment Policies
Research center: Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health care financing, Health policy, Hospitals and clinics, Quality
This study will investigate how the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's inpatient quality indicators can be applied to rural hospitals and will explore the application of those indicators in answering relevant policy questions.

Expanding Rural Health Insurance Coverage: How Do Insurance Reform Strategies Stack Up?
Research centers: Maine Rural Health Research Center, Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health insurance and the uninsured, Health policy
This purpose of this study is to inform policymakers about the current state of health insurance coverage in rural America, and to assess how specific reform strategies may differentially affect rural residents. Using a combination of analytic strategies, we will provide policymakers and rural health advocates with the necessary tools to develop reform strategies that meet the needs of rural residents.

Introduction to and Description of the 2004 (Version 2) Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCAs)
Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Defining rural, Health policy
This project's deliverable is an introduction to the methodology and uses of the new version of the Rural-Urban Commuting Areas (RUCAs). The description will include examples of RUCA uses and its strengths and shortcomings.

Monitoring Medicare Hospital Outpatient Payments: Trends and Evidence of Impacts of Payment Policy
Research center: Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health policy, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS)
This project documents trends in the provision of Medicare hospital outpatient services under both the new outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and cost-based mechanism used for critical access hospitals, and assesses evidence on the impacts of Medicare OPPS on Medicare and total outpatient revenue.

Tribal Long-Term Care: Barriers to Best Practices in Policy and Programming for a National Sample of Rural Tribes
Research center: ORHP-funded Individual Grantees
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Aging, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Health policy, Long term care, Minority health
This project will examine barriers experienced by rural American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes in developing long term care policy and service provision, identify tribes which exemplify best practices in the area of long term care policy, and document what other tribes would need to know to develop successful long term care programs (i.e., lessons learned).