The Hill: Mont. senators challenge HHS redefining ‘frontier’
Montana Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Jon Tester (D) have asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reconsider its decision to change the definition of “frontier” from population density to a community’s distance from a major city.
The senators sent a letter to HHS’s Office of Rural Health Policy on Monday explaining how the change would negatively affect small towns in rural areas get access to doctors and services.
Currently, HHS defines a community with fewer than six people per square mile as “frontier and remote” (FAR), but is considering changing the definition from population density to a community’s distance from a major population center. Rural areas receive grants from HHS to fund community health centers in lower-populated places — Tester and Baucus fear that a change in the definition of “frontier and remote” could mean less money for communities in their state.
