Rural Health Care

Check Eligibility for Medicare Bonus Following Annual HPSA Update - 01/28/2025

Physicians, including psychiatrists, can receive a 10% quarterly bonus from CMS for providing primary care or mental health services to Medicare patients in qualifying areas, with some important distinctions on services rendered.

Coming Up Short: TMA Workforce Report Underscores Access Challenges, Advocacy Wins - 05/06/2024

While the study highlights positive growth facilitated by TMA’s ongoing advocacy, it shows shortages that mirror those across the health care professional workforce and that are particularly entrenched in rural areas; it also reveals challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and by other factors, economic or otherwise, that have complicated Texas' practice environment and impacted recruitment.

Hospitals, Especially Rural Ones, Face Increased Risk of Closure as Pandemic Funds Dwindle - 01/29/2024

Now approaching the fourth year since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Texas hospitals are still reeling from its impact, facing elevated expenses, depressed patient volume, and tighter margins compared with prepandemic numbers. Rural hospitals, in particular, are at a significantly higher risk of closing.

Applications Open for Physician Education Loan Repayment Program - 06/22/2023

After closing on and off for more than a year, Texas’ Physician Education Loan Repayment Program, which gives physicians a strong financial reason to practice in rural and underserved areas, is now taking applications.

TMA Urges Comprehensive Rural Health Care Reform Amid Workforce Shortages - 09/22/2022

Last December, Adrian Billings, MD – a family physician serving Alpine, Marfa, and Presidio – responded to a small plane crash on his way home from work. After he called 911, he saw the lone ambulance in Presidio pass by the crash, on its way to another call. He said the two plane passengers likely wouldn’t have survived had emergency medical services from nearby cities not intervened.

Playing the Long Game: Adrian Billings, MD, Deepens the Rural Physician Bench - 10/02/2021

Although medicine wasn’t his initial choice, Dr. Billings’ passion for his work is palpable and extends far beyond the exam room, especially when he’s training future rural physicians.

Feds Distribute Grant to Boost Vaccine Confidence in Rural Texas - 07/28/2021

Texas rural health clinics are receiving more than $7 million out of nearly $100 million the Biden-Harris administration is distributing to rural clinics nationwide to support COVID-19 vaccination outreach.

Protect and Revitalize Rural Texans’ Health Care - 03/30/2021

Prior to the arrival of the COVID-19 virus, Texas’ rural health care already faced unprecedented financial and demographic pressures. The pandemic now has amplified the crisis.

Census Undercount Could Stifle Texas’ Health Services, Doctors Say - 03/11/2020

Texas physicians are urging patients to answer the upcoming U.S. Census to ensure the state won’t lose billions of dollars’ worth of health and human services funding – a loss that could harm the patients themselves.