| Read this in your browser July 31, 2025 What's New CDC-Funded Healthy Nonprofit Network (HNN) for Community-Based Organizations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a new initiative to support small, rural, and southern nonprofits working to build healthier communities. The HNN offers education, comprehensive assessment, training, and coaching in the following areas: - Organizational development and process improvement
- Partnership development and engagement
The HNN will host its next webinar, Future-Proof Your Funding: What Community-Based Organizations Must Do Now, TODAY, Thursday, July 31 at 2:00 pm Eastern. Join to learn how to build strong infrastructure, form strategic partnerships, and more. Register for the webinar here: https://healthyorgs.org/webinar-future-proof-funding-what-community-based-organizations-must-do-now/. SAMHSA Releases Annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health. On Monday, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration released the results of its survey conducted every year, a national snapshot based on self-reported responses from nearly 70,000 people. During the past year, 25.5 percent of people 12 and older said that they'd used an illicit drug. Meanwhile, those who said they participated in binge drinking dropped slightly from 21.7 percent in 2021 to 20.1 percent in 2024. Along with use of both legal and illicit substance use, SAMHSA's report tracks nine indicators of mental health, including anxiety, depression, mental illness, and suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts. Last year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that, between 2000 - 2020, suicide rates almost doubled in rural areas. Funding and Opportunities Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP) Fall 2025 Cohort – August 20. The FORHP-funded National Rural Health Resource Center (the Center) provides tailored assistance to help hospitals improve financial stability, expand needed community services, and keep care close to home. Eligible facilities include Critical Access Hospitals, Prospective Payment System hospitals, Rural Emergency Hospitals, and Indian Health Service hospitals. Last month, the Center announced eight hospitals that were selected for the first cohort. Space is limited, so register now for a webinar for applicants on Wednesday, August 5. VA Grants for Transportation in Highly Rural Areas – New Applications – August 23. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expects to make 15 awards with total funding of $8 million. VA's Highly Rural Transportation Grants (HRTG) provide funding to Veteran Service Organizations and State Veterans Service Agencies to provide transportation services in counties with fewer than seven people per square mile. Note that this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is for new applicants only. The NOFO for renewal grants for this program also has an August 23 deadline. ACL Alzheimer's Disease Programs Initiative - Dementia Capability/Indian Country – August 25. The Administration for Community Living (ACL) expects to make seven cooperative agreements, each providing federal funds up to $300,000, with Tribal governments and/or Tribal organizations providing home and community-based services. There are two application options contained in this single Notice of Funding Opportunity: Option A for entities that have previously received grants under this program, and Option B for new applicants. Policy Updates Send questions to ruralpolicy@hrsa.gov. CMS Proposes Updates to Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Payments for Calendar Year 2026 – Comment by September 12. This proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), issued on July 16, 2025, seeks public comment on payment updates and policy changes to Medicare's physician fee schedule payments and includes other proposals affecting Medicare beneficiaries. Proposals include removing the code and add-on payment for the Social Determinants of Health Risk Assessment, permanently adopting the definition of direct supervision that allows the physician or supervising practitioner to provide supervision through real-time audio and visual interactive telecommunications (excluding audio-only), creating an optional add-on codes for Advanced Primary Care Management (ACPM) services that would provide behavioral health integration or psychiatric Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) services proposed modifications to the way that CMS will pay for skin substitutes, a proposed negative 2.5 percent adjustment to certain non-time-based Relative Value Units (RVUs), and a new mandatory alternative payment model, the Ambulatory Specialty Model. The proposed rule also includes proposed updates applicable to Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), including extending non-behavioral health telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2026, requiring an in-person mental health service within 6 months prior to the mental-health telehealth visit and requiring an in-person mental health visit every 12-months while the patient is receiving services, requiring RHCs and FQHCs to report and bill the individual codes for BHI and CoCM rather than the current consolidated code. CMS Proposes New Mandatory Alternative Payment Model, the Ambulatory Specialty Model (ASM) – Comment by September 12. As part of the proposed Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has proposed a new mandatory payment model for physicians who treat low back pain and heart failure. The proposed model has a 5-year period of performance running from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2031. Participation will be mandatory for all physicians treating low back pain or heart failure located in selected metropolitan divisions or Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs), which can include areas designated by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy as rural. The proposed ASM model cohort for heart failure, would be physicians who specialize in general cardiology. For low back pain, participants would be physicians who specialize in anesthesiology, pain management, interventional pain management, neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, or physical medicine and rehabilitation. The model would only include physicians who have historically treated at least 20 heart failure or low back episodes per year as identified by CMMI. All participants will be subject to both upside and downside risk. Medicare Hospital OPPS: CMS Proposes to Expand Outpatient Services Paid at Physician-Equivalent Rates – Comment by September 15. In 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) adopted a method to control unnecessary increases in the volume of the clinic visit services furnished in excepted off-campus provider-based departments (PBDs), defined as a hospital outpatient department, that is farther than 250 yards from the main campus and billed under the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) prior to November 2, 2015, by paying them a physician-equivalent rate, which is lower than the OPPS rate. This method is intended to prevent Medicare and beneficiaries from paying significantly more in the excepted off-campus PBD setting than in the physician office setting. In the Medicare Hospital OPPS Calendar Year 2026 proposed rule, Approaching Deadlines HHS Revised the Interpretation of "Federal Public Benefit" – Comment by August 13 CMS Seeks Input on the Estimated Burden to Meet Emergency Preparedness Requirements – Comment by August 19 Rural Hospital Stabilization Program – Fall 2025 Cohort – August 20 VA Grants for Transportation in Highly Rural Areas – NEW Applications – August 23 VA Grants for Transportation in Highly Rural Areas – Renewing Applications – August 23 ACL Alzheimer's Disease Programs Initiative - Dementia Capability in Indian Country – August 25 CMS Proposed Rule for CY 2026 End Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System – Comment by August 29 CMS Rate Update for CY 2026 Home Health Prospective Payment System – Comment by August 29 CMS Proposes New Mandatory Alternative Payment Model, the Ambulatory Specialty Model (ASM) – Comment by September 12 CMS Proposes Updates to Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Payments – Comment by September 12 CMS Proposes Updates to Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System – Comment by September 15 Ongoing Opportunities - Updated July 2025 Bold indicates HRSA- and/or FORHP-funded opportunities. Administration for Children & Families: Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency – Technical Assistance for Rural EMS Communications Delta Regional Authority: Community Infrastructure Fund Delta Region Community Health Systems Development Program General Services Administration: Federal Surplus Property Available for Public Use HRSA Needs Rural Reviewers for Grant Applications HRSA National Health Service Corps/SAMHSA: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder Training HRSA Technical Assistance for Look-Alike Initial Designation for the Health Center Program Indian Health Service/Department of Defense: Medical Supplies and Equipment for Tribes (Project TRANSAM) Licensure Portability: The Multi-Discipline Licensure Resource Project National Rural Health Resource Center: Rural Hospital Stabilization Program ProviderBridge: Mobilizing Health Care Workforce via Telehealth Rural Graduate Medical Education Planning and Development Small Business Administration Guaranteed Loans for Small Business Small Business Administration Rural Initiative Pilot Program Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Federal Emergency Management Agency/: Post-Disaster Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program Targeted Technical Assistance for Rural Hospitals Program USDA: National School Lunch Afterschool Snack Program USDA: Summer Food Service Program USDA/National Rural Health Association: Rural Hospital Technical Assistance USDA Rural Development: America's Healthy Food Financing Initiative USDA Rural Development: Circuit Rider Program – Technical Assistance for Rural Water Systems USDA Rural Development: Community Facilities Program USDA Rural Development: Economic Development Loans & Grants – Ongoing with deadlines every quarter USDA Rural Development: Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants USDA Rural Development: Grants for Rural and Native Alaskan Villages USDA Rural Development: Intermediary Relending Program – Ongoing with deadlines every quarter USDA Rural Development: Multifamily Housing Loan Guarantees USDA Rural Development: Rural Business Investment Program USDA Rural Development: Rural Energy Savings Program USDA Rural Development: SEARCH – Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (for Water/Waste Projects) USDA Rural Development: Telecommunications Infrastructure Loans and Loan Guarantees U.S. Department of Transportation: Rural Opportunities to Use Transportation for Economic Success (R.O.U.T.E.S) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Drinking Water State Revolving Fund U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: Physical Therapy Telehealth Research Study for Older Veterans – Ongoing until October 2026 | 
