Rural Health News is a weekly segment of Rural Health Today, a podcast by Hillsdale Hospital.
Welcome back to Rural Health News, the segment of Rural Health Today where we fill you in on the latest in rural health headlines. We’ll cover three headlines in today’s episode: what’s most urgent, a rural health damage report, and a success story to send us into the week.
Most Urgent
Last week’s primary elections were an important opportunity to make our voices heard on behalf of rural health in our own communities and across the country. As new individuals prepare to start their terms, rural health needs to be top-of-mind. No matter who is in office, supporting sustainable healthcare services for remote communities should be a priority, and our local, state and federal representatives rely on constituents in those communities, including healthcare leaders, to share their stories. If you have new representatives and state officials, get connected with them and let them know what rural health means to you!
Damage Report
A recent report from Trek Health and the Healthcare Financial Management Association shows that contracts between payers and hospitals don’t reflect payer policy changes, resulting in major revenue leakage for healthcare providers. According to the survey, 64% of hospitals are seeing inconsistent payment practices from payers and 42% experience changes to payment methodologies or logic.
With rural hospitals struggling to maintain margin, payer transparency is more important than ever. The report also shows that more than 60% of hospitals expect reimbursement shifts driven by payer rate, policy or methodology changes. When hospitals have to negotiate with payers based on limited available price data, analysis and leverage suffers, giving the upper hand to payers at the risk of proper reimbursement for the cost of care.
This report reflects the power disparity at work in hospital-payer relationships across the country. Smaller, rural hospitals are at greater risk due to higher populations of Medicaid and Medicare, which come with nonnegotiable reimbursement models. These hospitals also don’t have the same resources as big-system urban healthcare to contract third parties for payer negotiations and revenue management. To ensure the future of sustainable healthcare, we must not only hold accountable the providers of vital healthcare services, but the agencies responsible for transparent policies and proper reimbursement.
Success Story
Unhoused populations in rural communities can often struggle to access basic needs, including food, housing and preventative care. Rural Health Services, a nonprofit organization in Aiken County, South Carolina, recently held an event called Healthcare for the Homeless. The purpose of the event was to address short-term and long-term concerns of unhoused community members, connecting them to local resources and agencies. Event attendees also received free lunch, hygiene kits, HIV testing, Narcan and blood pressure checks. Stories like this one show how vital community agencies are for the overall health and wellbeing of small towns.
Sources
Alan Condon, “The payer policy problem draining hospital revenue: 6 things to know,” July 31, 2026, https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/the-payer-policy-problem-draining-hospital-revenue-6-things-to-know/?origin=BHRE&utm_source=BHRE&utm_medium=email&utm_content=newsletter&oly_enc_id=8018I7467278H7C, Becker’s Hospital Review.
Healthcare Financial Management Association, “The State of Payer Negotiations: Data, Visibility and Financial Performance,” July 28, 2026, https://www.hfma.org/payment-reimbursement-and-managed-care/the-state-of-payer-negotiations-data-visibility-and-financial-performance/?utm_campaign=Content_HFMA_Daily_FY25&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_sqU-ITZrRHYjTCRg3wX_BPCV_UEg8eQO0vlN23NIY3lBeIVfkOCMVL5EidB4mJqt8Z9fdfBLrCzlCnlctJJCR3svg4OhK4YSNvRAX5xhxnppMlJc&_hsmi=430796013&utm_content=430796013&utm_source=hs_email.
Dede Biles, “Healthcare for the Homeless in Aiken provides assistance and education about local resources,” August 4, 2026, https://www.postandcourier.com/aikenstandard/news/local/aiken-rural-health-services-homeless/article_3f3f5ac4-1685-46d3-905a-65b6a613e64d.html, Aiken Standard.
Rural Health Today is a production of Hillsdale Hospital in Hillsdale, Michigan and a member of the Health Podcast Network. Our host is JJ Hodshire, our producer is Kyrsten Newlon, and our audio engineer is Kenji Ulmer. Special thanks to our special guests for sharing their expertise on the show, and also to the Hillsdale Hospital marketing team. If you want to submit a question for us to answer on the podcast or learn more about Rural Health Today, visit ruralhealthtoday.com.
