Caregiver and senior man in rural setting

Rural healthcare providers are cautiously optimistic the Biden administration’s proposed 2024 budget will help advance more in-home care to rural Americans. 

The budget includes $30 million to provide assistance to rural hospitals at risk of closure and to support expansion of hospital service lines to meet the needs of rural communities. It also supports workforce development and telehealth.

That is encouraging to San Francisco-based Homeward Health, which partners with providers and payers to bring in-home value-based care to patients in rural communities. The company currently has partnerships in Michigan and Minnesota.  

“Homeward is pleased to see funds dedicated to rural hospitals included in the proposed 2024 budget,” Jennifer Scheider, MD, Homeward Health co-founder and CEO, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse in an email. “Given the fact that rural communities have one-half as many primary care providers and one-eighth as many specialists as urban communities, we recognize that in order to expand access to care and achieve our mission, working in partnership with local providers, local hospitals, and health systems is critical.” 

Access to care in rural America — where roughly 20% of Americans live — has been declining. Nearly 140 hospitals closed between 2010 and 2021, according to the American Hospital Association. Access to primary care is equally difficult. The patient-to-primary care physician ratio in rural areas is only 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas. 

Hospital-at-home providers see great opportunity in rural America. Last year, Resilient Healthcare began providing hospital-at-home services for three rural Texas hospitals. Digital health firm Biofourmis has partnered with Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital on a rural home hospital model. 

Ash Shehata, a lead healthcare consultant for KPMG, told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse the proposed $30 million could be a good first step in advancing better technology, home-based services, communication and transportation services in rural communities.

“It’s not just about the one-time fund, but how these rural health systems can create a more sustainable business model and use this as seed funding to create new innovation,” Shehata added. 

If the $30 million makes it into the final budget, Shehata favors the development of more innovative home-based therapies, services and technologies that will advance and enhance long-term care for rural Americans.