Official Policy Positions
The National Rural Health Association is a member-driven association, so our members set our policies and positions that we advocate for at a national level. All members of the association are able to participate in that process by submitting potential policy positions for consideration. Positions are then adopted by the Rural Health Congress, which is made up of a broad representation of our members. For more information and to participate in the process, visit our Policy Position Development page.
If you have questions about any of these positions, please contact the NRHA Government Affairs office at 202-639-0550 or emahn@nrharural.org.
Official Policy Positions
The positions listed below are in the order they were originally adopted by the Rural Health Congress (formerly the Rural Health Policy Board). Positions that were adopted as part of the "Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series are in the chronological list as part of the series at the bottom of the page.
Allied Health, Paper #11 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, October 2008
American Indian and Alaska Native Health, November 2006
Behavioral Health, Paper #5 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, October 2008
Border Health, January 2010
Broadband Access in Rural America, September 2012
Comprehensive Quality Improvement in Rural Health Care, October 2007
Defining the Issues and the Principles of Recruitment and Retention, Introduction to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, January 2012
Definition of Rural, Policy Statement, April 2012
The National Rural Health Association strongly recommends that definitions of rural be specific to the purposes of the programs in which they are used and that these are referred to as programmatic designations and not as definitions. Programs targeting rural communities, rural providers, and rural residents do so for particular reasons, and those reasons should be the guidance for selecting the criteria for a programmatic designation (from among various criteria and existing definitions, each with its own statistical validity). This will ensure that a designation is appropriate for a specific program while limiting the possibilities that other unrelated programs adopt a definition, which is not created to fit that program.
Dental Health Professionals in Alaska Rural Communities, Policy Statement, June 2006
The National Rural Health Association believes rural communities should have access to the most appropriately trained dental health professionals relative to the size and demographics of the community. In frontier Alaska, tribal programs experience a 25 percent annual vacancy rate and 30 percent annual turnover rate for dentists. And, Alaska Native children have 2.5 times more dental disease than all US races. Additionally, the geography of Alaska increases the cost of providing dental care and many villages face economic conditions that make support of a full-time dentist unfeasible. Therefore, the National Rural Health Association fully endorses the provision of oral health care via dental health aides and therapists in small, frontier communities in Alaska. Click here for the full text.
Designation of Frontier Health Professional Shortage Areas, October 2007
Elder Health in Rural America, February 2013
Electronic Health Record Implementation and Meaningful Use Adoption in Rural Hospitals and Physician Clinics, January 2012
Emergency Medical Services, Paper #13 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, November 2005
Farm Bill Reauthorization: Implications for the Health of Rural Communities, November 2006
Food and Nutrition, January 2011
Frontier Definition, October 2008
Future of the Frontier Extended Stay Clinic, April 2012
Future of Rural Health, February 2013
Geographic Restrictions for Medicare Telehealth Reimbursement, May 2011
Graduate Medical Education for Rural Practice
Policy jointly adopted by the American Academy of Family Physicians, May 2008
Health Care Workforce Distribution and Shortage Issues in Rural America, January 2012
Health Disparities, Policy Statement, May 2007:
A population having health disparities is one that exhibits/demonstrates significantly poorer health status, life expectancy, access to and quality of health care such as those associated with lifestyle and health behaviors, social and ethnic discrimination, poverty, geography or marginalization.
Health Home, October 2008
Health Insurance Access in Rural America, March 2004
Hospital Administration, Paper #10 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, May 2007
Inclusion of Primary Eye Care Services in the National Health Service Corps, October 2007
Issues of Preserving Rural Professional Quality of Life, Paper #14 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, May 2006
Medicaid Reform: A Rural Perspective, September 2012 (an update of papers passed in May 2007, April 2004 and May 2003)
Medicare Advantage for Rural America?, February 2007
Meeting Oral Health Care Needs in Rural America, April 2005
Niche (Limited-Service) Hospital Providers, May 2005
Nursing, Paper #2 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, December 2005
Oral Health, Paper #4 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, November 2006
Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, Paper #3 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, May 2006
Pharmacist's Right to Refuse Service, Policy Statement, August 2005
While the NRHA respects a pharmacist’s right to refuse to fill some prescriptions, these refusals cannot obstruct both a prescribing clinician’s authority and the ability of rural patients to access prescribed medications. NRHA supports the American Medical Association resolution of June 20, 2005 and encourages state laws that would allow prescribing clinicians to dispense medication directly to patients when no willing pharmacist is located within 30 miles. AMA Resolution
Pharmacy, May 2009
Physicians, Paper #1 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, November 2006
Physician Assistants, Paper #12 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, October 2008
Primary Eye Care, Paper #8 to the "Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, October 2009
Primary Eye Care in Rural America, October 2007
Principles for Community Paramedicine Programs, September 2012
Professional Liability Reform, September 2012 (an update of the April 2003 Professional Liability Reform paper)
Public Health Nursing: Strengthening the Core of Rural Public Health, January 2011
Public Safety Officer Benefit to Include Ambulance and Air Medical Crews, January 2008
Public Reporting of Hospital Quality in Rural Communities: An Initial Set of Key Issues, January 2012
Quality of Rural Health Care, December 2003
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, May 2006
Recruitment and Training of Racial/Ethnic Health Professionals in Rural America, February 2013
Reforming the Universal Service Fund, May 2003
Responsive Rural Health Delivery System, October 2008
Rural America's Health Care Safety Net Providers, March 2002
Rural America's Oral Health Needs, February 2013 (an update of Meeting Oral Health Care Needs in Rural America, April 2005)
Rural Economic Development, May 2009
Rural Graduate Medical Education, June 2003
Rural Health Careers Pipeline: Kindergarten to 12th Grade Education, Paper #7 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, February 2006
Rural Health Clinics, November 2006 (An update of a paper passed February 1997)
Rural Health Information Technology, February 2006
Rural Health Preparedness, April 2011 (An update of the January 2002 Rural Health Preparedness paper)
Rural Health Professions, January 2004
Rural Hospital Participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, February 2013
Rural Public Health, June 2004
Rural Public Health, Paper #6 to the "The Rural Health Careers Pipeline" series, April 2007
Rural Veterans: A Special Concern for Rural Health Advocates, February 2007 (An update of a paper passed in February 2004)
Rural Women's Health, January 2013 (An update of the November 2005 Rural/Frontier Women's Access to Health Services paper)
Streamlining Telemedicine Licensure to Improve Health, February 2013
Telemedicine Reimbursement, May 2010
Telemedicine Credentialing, May 2010
Under-insurance, October 2009
Recruitment and Retention of a Quality Health Workforce in Rural Areas
A series of policy papers on the Rural Health Careers Pipeline
These will be posted as they are approved in both this list and above in the chronological listing.
- Introduction: Defining the Issues and the Principles of Recruitment and Retention, June 2005
- Number 1: Physicians, November 2006
- Number 2: Nursing, December 2005
- Number 3: Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians, May 2006
- Number 4: Oral Health, November 2006
- Number 5: Behavioral Health, October 2008
- Number 6: Rural Public Health, April 2007
- Number 7: Rural Health Careers Pipeline: Kindergarten to 12th Grade Education, February 2006
- Number 10: Hospital Administration, May 2007
- Number 11: Allied Health, October 2008
- Number 12: Physician Assistants, October 2008
- Number 13: Emergency Medical Services, November 2005
- Number 14: Issues of Preserving Rural Professional Quality of Life, May 2006
