The voice of rural America just got a little louder following the presentation of a $146,000 grant to the Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI).

RUPRI is a multi-state consortium directed by researchers at Iowa State University, the University of Missouri and the University of Nebraska that analyzes the implications of national public policy issues on rural areas.

The grant, awarded by the W. K. Kellogg (of breakfast cereal fame) Foundation, will be used to examine ways in which analysis of national policies affecting rural communities can be examined and provided to rural community leaders, said Mark Edelman, professor of economics and RUPRI coordinator at ISU.

“The project will provide systematic approaches to presenting the information and collecting local leaders reactions,” he said in a press release. “Results will be used to inform policy-makers as they shape programs and policies that affect rural people.”

One of the goals of the project is to organize panels of rural community leaders from around the nation to discuss current topics in policy debates, with a priority on health care.

“Even though we are managed by a three-state consortium, we view ourselves as a national institute and we organize national projects,” Edelman said. “One of the two big projects that we’ve been involved with for the last couple of years has been the rural impacts of Medicare.”

Edelman said there is a differential reimbursement rate for rural Medicare patients relative to urban patients. This difference is due to the fact that Medicare reimbursement is based on cost structures that existed when it was developed, Edelman said.

“What you found was that rural areas paid less for doctors and nurses and so forth than urban areas did,” he said. “But once you set a formula like that in stone, you are also creating a situation where the differential increases over time.”

He said many rural hospitals rely on Medicare patients for their main source of revenue. In some rural communities, “up to 60 or 70 percent of the patient load is Medicare patients, so there is a disproportionate impact on rural hospitals” with respect to urban hospitals.

“As you contemplate changing Medicare policy as a result of budget constraints like we have been considering in the last year, it is very important to consider how those Medicare cost changes will be affected by the budget,” Edelman said.

Another goal of the project is to use the Internet to provide information and education on rural policy and to encourage interactive discussions among rural communities. This may help leaders in local communities to communicate with each other and also with federal and state agencies to help resolve local problems and concerns, Edelman said.

“Many rural communities are gaining access to the Internet and the potential is there to provide communities specific data and information that is specific for a specific community to help them analyze the current trends in their economy, current trends in social indicators in their community, and also to establish local community networks,” Edelman said.

The W. K. Kellogg Foundation is one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the country that does work in the area of rural leadership and rural concerns.