Reviews current research and experience and identifies key policy and program considerations for integrated acute and long term care financing in rural areas. Finds that full capitation of acute and long term care payments is an urban financial integration model that is often not applicable in rural areas. Many rural areas do not have adequate infrastructure to support full capitation models, nor are such models necessarily consistent with the common rural area goal of preserving and strengthening existing providers. Other incremental payment approaches that support some integration of services are more feasible for rural areas, including the creation of fee-for-service incentives, partial capitation, and other risk limitation strategies.