Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Medicare
Medicare Telehealth Trends Dashboard, 2019-2021
Interactive dashboard provides data on Medicare beneficiaries' telehealth visits from 2019 through 2021. Allows users to explore data by beneficiary characteristics, including age, disability status, urban/rural residence; behavioral health versus non-behavioral health visits; telehealth modality; and the percent of total visits that were via telehealth visits in 2020 by state.
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Interactive dashboard provides data on Medicare beneficiaries' telehealth visits from 2019 through 2021. Allows users to explore data by beneficiary characteristics, including age, disability status, urban/rural residence; behavioral health versus non-behavioral health visits; telehealth modality; and the percent of total visits that were via telehealth visits in 2020 by state.
Date: 2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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2023 Physician Fee Schedule Update
Webinar recording discusses the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Physician Fee Schedule and highlights how the policy changes around behavioral health and telehealth services may affect rural communities. Features presentations from representatives of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the CMS Center for Medicare, Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group, Division of Ambulatory Services.
Additional links: Audio Recording, Webinar Slides, Webinar Transcript
Date: 12/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Webinar recording discusses the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Physician Fee Schedule and highlights how the policy changes around behavioral health and telehealth services may affect rural communities. Features presentations from representatives of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the CMS Center for Medicare, Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group, Division of Ambulatory Services.
Additional links: Audio Recording, Webinar Slides, Webinar Transcript
Date: 12/2022
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Evaluation of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration: Interim Report Two (Covering 2016-2018)
Provides an overview of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD). Describes the characteristics of RCHD participants as of fiscal year 2018, the Medicare payments received under the program, and the impact of the RCHD on hospital financial measures. Examines whether hospitals that continued to participate in the RCHD under the 21st Century Cures Act (CCA) extension experienced additional changes to their financial condition, as well as the impact of the program on hospitals that joined the demonstration for the first time under the CCA extension.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Institutes for Research, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Provides an overview of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD). Describes the characteristics of RCHD participants as of fiscal year 2018, the Medicare payments received under the program, and the impact of the RCHD on hospital financial measures. Examines whether hospitals that continued to participate in the RCHD under the 21st Century Cures Act (CCA) extension experienced additional changes to their financial condition, as well as the impact of the program on hospitals that joined the demonstration for the first time under the CCA extension.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Institutes for Research, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Public Law 117–328: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023
Text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328 (December 29, 2022). Section 4113 extends certain COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, including the ability of Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers to serve as distant site providers, through December 31, 2024. Section 4137 authorizes the extension of a 1% add-on payment for home health services provided in high-utilization rural counties through 2023.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Congress
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Text of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Public Law 117-328 (December 29, 2022). Section 4113 extends certain COVID-19 telehealth flexibilities, including the ability of Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers to serve as distant site providers, through December 31, 2024. Section 4137 authorizes the extension of a 1% add-on payment for home health services provided in high-utilization rural counties through 2023.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Congress
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December 2022 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and supporting Medicare safety-net hospitals, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, physician and other health professional services, hospice services, skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and inpatient rehabilitation facility services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) December 2022 meeting. Covers payment adequacy and updates for hospital inpatient and outpatient services and supporting Medicare safety-net hospitals, ambulatory surgical center services, outpatient dialysis services, physician and other health professional services, hospice services, skilled nursing facilities, home health services, and inpatient rehabilitation facility services. Includes rural references throughout.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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The Evolution of Hospital Designations and Payment in the U.S.: Implications for Rural Hospitals
Provides a history and overview of Medicare hospital payment polices as well as alternative payment models and their impact on rural facilities. Discusses the context in which rural hospitals serve patients, rural hospital payment provisions and designations, and current federal payment models that impact rural hospitals.
Author(s): Onyinye Oyeka, Clinton MacKinney, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Provides a history and overview of Medicare hospital payment polices as well as alternative payment models and their impact on rural facilities. Discusses the context in which rural hospitals serve patients, rural hospital payment provisions and designations, and current federal payment models that impact rural hospitals.
Author(s): Onyinye Oyeka, Clinton MacKinney, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Medicare: CMS Needs to Address Risks Posed by Provider Enrollment Waivers and Flexibilities
Report discusses the waivers and flexibilities in Medicare requirements that were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights how these waivers, such as fingerprint-based criminal background checks and revalidating provider eligibility, put Medicare at a high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse. Details how these waivers affect rural providers, as well.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Report discusses the waivers and flexibilities in Medicare requirements that were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlights how these waivers, such as fingerprint-based criminal background checks and revalidating provider eligibility, put Medicare at a high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse. Details how these waivers affect rural providers, as well.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Ownership of Skilled Nursing Facilities: An Analysis of Newly-Released Federal Data
Analyzes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) dataset on the ownership of all U.S. skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) enrolled in Medicare. Examines 15,151 nursing homes by for-profit, nonprofit, or government controlled; organizational structure; affiliated entity by SNF size, Medicare and Medicaid certified versus Medicare-only certified, and rural versus urban location. Includes data on the 10 largest SNF chains and their distribution of SNFs across the U.S.
Author(s): W. Pete Welch, Iara Oliveira, Martin Blanco, Benjamin D. Sommers
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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Analyzes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) dataset on the ownership of all U.S. skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) enrolled in Medicare. Examines 15,151 nursing homes by for-profit, nonprofit, or government controlled; organizational structure; affiliated entity by SNF size, Medicare and Medicaid certified versus Medicare-only certified, and rural versus urban location. Includes data on the 10 largest SNF chains and their distribution of SNFs across the U.S.
Author(s): W. Pete Welch, Iara Oliveira, Martin Blanco, Benjamin D. Sommers
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
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OIG's Top Unimplemented Recommendations: Solutions To Reduce Fraud, Waste, and Abuse in HHS Programs: December 2022
Annual report identifying the top 25 unimplemented recommendations from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that, in OIG's view, would have the most substantial positive impact on Health and Human Services (HHS) programs. Positive impact may refer to cost savings, program efficacy and efficiency, and/or quality improvement. Primary areas of interest in the December 2022 edition include: ensuring that incidents of potential abuse or neglect of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are identified and reported; addressing inappropriate nursing home discharges; reforming the hospital wage index system; increasing access to treatments for opioid use disorder; ensuring that Medicaid managed care enrollees have timely access to behavioral health services; and developing and implementing a staffing program for recruiting, retaining, and transitioning staff and leadership to remote Indian Health Service hospitals.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Annual report identifying the top 25 unimplemented recommendations from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that, in OIG's view, would have the most substantial positive impact on Health and Human Services (HHS) programs. Positive impact may refer to cost savings, program efficacy and efficiency, and/or quality improvement. Primary areas of interest in the December 2022 edition include: ensuring that incidents of potential abuse or neglect of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries are identified and reported; addressing inappropriate nursing home discharges; reforming the hospital wage index system; increasing access to treatments for opioid use disorder; ensuring that Medicaid managed care enrollees have timely access to behavioral health services; and developing and implementing a staffing program for recruiting, retaining, and transitioning staff and leadership to remote Indian Health Service hospitals.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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CMS Innovation Center: 2022 Report to Congress
Reports to Congress on payment and service delivery models and initiatives tested or announced by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation between October 2020 and September 2022. Includes summaries and updates on multiple rural-relevant models and initiatives, including Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model, the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM), the Vermont All-Payer Accountable Care Organization Model, and more.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Reports to Congress on payment and service delivery models and initiatives tested or announced by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation between October 2020 and September 2022. Includes summaries and updates on multiple rural-relevant models and initiatives, including Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model, the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM), the Vermont All-Payer Accountable Care Organization Model, and more.
Date: 12/2022
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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