NARHC Escalates “Urbanized Area” Issue – CMS Policy Urgently Needed

Nathan Baugh, Executive Director, and Sarah Hohman, Director of Government Affairs

In early January, NARHC shared with RHCs the recent Census Bureau definition changes and their potential impacts on Rural Health Clinic location eligibility, given the lack of a finalized policy from CMS.

Since then, in the absence of such a policy from CMS, we learned of RHC applications either being inappropriately rejected based on assumptions of what the new policy is or simply blocked by states waiting for a clarification.

Today, NARHC sent a letter to the CMS Administrator sharing the halting impacts of the lack of policy and the immediate need to publicize a policy clarification in a manner that preserves the historical location requirements for the RHC program. The letter was also widely shared with Congressional staff.

NARHC will update the RHC community as soon as we receive any updates – please be sure you are signed up for the NARHC listserv to receive all NARHC news straight to your inbox!

With any questions, please contact Nathan Baugh, NARHC Executive Director, at Nathan.Baugh@narhc.org or Sarah Hohman, NARHC Director of Government Affairs, at Sarah.Hohman@narhc.org.