Impact of Rural Hospital Closures on Mortality
Impact of Rural Hospital Closures on Mortality supports researchers studying how rural U.S. hospital access losses affect mortality, to guide actuarial monitoring, assumptions, and risk management.
Funder: Society of Actuaries
Due Dates: November 16, 2026 (Intent to submit) | December 1, 2026 (Full proposal)
Funding Amounts: Historical budgeting guide: $25,000–$50,000 for all contracted projects (33rd–66th percentiles, not an award limit)
Summary: Supports research on mortality effects of rural hospital closures and service losses, with a practical actuarial interpretation framework.
Key Information: Proposals are limited to five pages, excluding references and researcher biographies.
Description
The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute, through its Mortality and Longevity Strategic Research Program, seeks research on how rural hospital closures, conversions, and material service reductions affect mortality. The study should focus primarily on rural populations in the United States, with all-cause mortality as the central outcome and particular attention to cardiovascular deaths and other causes sensitive to timely care.
The research should define hospital access changes transparently, evaluate near-term and longer-term effects, and distinguish associations from findings supporting causal interpretation. It should examine variation across populations, service losses, and alternative care availability where data permit. A practical actuarial framework should help users interpret evidence for mortality monitoring, assumption setting, scenario analysis, and risk management, without unsupported application of population-level findings to insured populations.
