Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance

Medicare Home Health: Payments to Freestanding Home Health Agencies More Than Covered Their Costs
Discusses an evaluation of Medicare payments to freestanding home health agencies (HHAs). Includes comparison of Medicare margins for urban and rural HHAs.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
The Financial Benefits of Critical Access Hospital Conversion for FY 1999 and FY 2000 Converters
Discusses the impact of conversion to Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status on the financial condition of rural hospitals one and two years after conversion. CAHs' pre- and post-conversion revenues are compared, and CAH revenues are compared to small rural hospitals that did not convert to cost-based Medicare reimbursement.
Author(s): Jeffrey Stensland, Gestur Davidson, Ira Moscovice
Date: 01/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-173): A Summary of Provisions Important to Rural Health Care Delivery
Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-173) as it relates to rural healthcare. Includes information on how this Act impacts beneficiaries, healthcare access, and payments to rural healthcare providers.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Date: 01/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Rural Policy Research Institute
view details
Health, United States, 2004: With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans with Special Feature on Drugs
Presents an annual overview of national trends in health statistics. Covers health status and determinants, healthcare utilization, access, and expenditures. Includes data on rural areas - see index under "metropolitan/nonmetropolitan data." 2004 edition includes a feature on prescription and nonprescription drug use.
Date: 2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details
Modeling the Frontier Extended Stay Clinic Conditions of Participation and Reimbursement Methodologies
Discusses the financial feasibility of the Frontier Extended Stay Clinic (FESC), a proposed provider type to expand services in remote and isolated primary care clinics. Compares Medicare reimbursement for FESC status with Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Rural Health Clinic (RHC), and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) reimbursement. Includes detailed examples of financial impact for seven clinics in rural Alaska, Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming.
Date: 2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
view details
Rural Network Development Grantees for Fiscal Year 2004
Summaries of network grant projects funded in 2004. Includes project description, contact information, and amount of funding.
Date: 2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
view details
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
Text of the legislation that adds a prescription drug benefit to Medicare and enhances some rural healthcare programs, such as the Critical Access Hospitals program.
Date: 11/2003
Type: Document
view details
Rural-Urban Issues in the Wage Index Adjustment for Prospective Payment in Skilled Nursing Facilities
Discusses the use of the hospital wage index for the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system (SNF PPS) and how a change to an SNF wage index would impact rural and urban skilled nursing facilities. Also identifies some related issues that impact reimbursement to SNFs in both urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Findings Brief, January 2004
Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 11/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Health Insurance Coverage of the Rural and Urban Near Elderly
Results of a study of health insurance coverage of those between 55 and 64 years old. Includes data for rural and urban near elderly. Covers sources of health insurance coverage and rates of uninsurance.
Author(s): Erika C. Ziller, Andrew F. Coburn
Date: 10/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
view details
Medicare Physician Payment: Practice Expense
Describes the variation in Medicare payment for practice expense using the Geographic Practice Cost Indexes (GPCIs). Explains the factors that are used to calculate GPCIs and lists the 2003 GPCIs. Discusses potential impact of lower Medicare reimbursement to rural physicians for practice expense.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Michael D. Shambaugh-Miller, Keith J. Mueller
Citation: RUPRI Rural Policy Brief, 8(9)
Date: 10/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details