Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Medicare
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System and the Long-term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System for FY 2020
Comments on a May 3, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule revising the hospital inpatient and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment systems. Addresses proposed changes to the hospital wage index, including rural floor calculations, uncompensated care measurements that affect disproportionate share (DSH) payments, inpatient and outpatient proposals related to drugs and devices, and the LTCH prospective payment system.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Comments on a May 3, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule revising the hospital inpatient and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment systems. Addresses proposed changes to the hospital wage index, including rural floor calculations, uncompensated care measurements that affect disproportionate share (DSH) payments, inpatient and outpatient proposals related to drugs and devices, and the LTCH prospective payment system.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Insurer Participation in Rural Health Insurance Marketplaces: Are Some Markets Intrinsically More Competitive Than Others?
Policy position brief reporting on analyses of insurer participation data in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Medicare Advantage, and Health Insurance Marketplaces (HIMs). Assesses to what extent participation in HIMs may be associated with prior levels of local market competition. Includes statistics on prior market competition in low-population-density counties in 2014 and 2017, and county characteristics associated with low insurer participation, with comparisons between metro and nonmetro counties.
Author(s): Abigail R. Barker, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Policy position brief reporting on analyses of insurer participation data in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Medicare Advantage, and Health Insurance Marketplaces (HIMs). Assesses to what extent participation in HIMs may be associated with prior levels of local market competition. Includes statistics on prior market competition in low-population-density counties in 2014 and 2017, and county characteristics associated with low insurer participation, with comparisons between metro and nonmetro counties.
Author(s): Abigail R. Barker, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
view details
Lower Health Care Costs Act
Recording of a U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on the Lower Health Care Costs Act, which covers access to healthcare, surprise medical bills, market competition, drug prices, and other issues. Includes testimony from an organization that works primarily with small and rural practices, the American Hospital Association, American Enterprise Institute, and others.
Additional links: Benedic N. Ippolito Testimony, Sean Cavanaugh Testimony, Tom Nickels Testimony
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
view details
Recording of a U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing on the Lower Health Care Costs Act, which covers access to healthcare, surprise medical bills, market competition, drug prices, and other issues. Includes testimony from an organization that works primarily with small and rural practices, the American Hospital Association, American Enterprise Institute, and others.
Additional links: Benedic N. Ippolito Testimony, Sean Cavanaugh Testimony, Tom Nickels Testimony
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
view details
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Skilled Nursing Facility PPS for FY 2020
Comments on an April 25, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule updating payments for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and SNF quality reporting. Addresses proposed changes to the wage index system that would adjust for geographical differences, potentially impacting rural areas.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Comments on an April 25, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule updating payments for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and SNF quality reporting. Addresses proposed changes to the wage index system that would adjust for geographical differences, potentially impacting rural areas.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on Hospice for FY 2020
Comments on an April 25, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule updating payments for hospice and hospice quality reporting. Addresses proposed changes to the wage index system that would adjust for geographical differences, potentially impacting rural areas.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Comments on an April 25, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule updating payments for hospice and hospice quality reporting. Addresses proposed changes to the wage index system that would adjust for geographical differences, potentially impacting rural areas.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility PPS for FY 2020
Comments on an April 24, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule updating payments for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) and IRF quality reporting. Addresses proposed changes to the wage index system that would adjust for geographical differences, potentially impacting rural areas.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Comments on an April 24, 2019, Federal Register proposed rule updating payments for Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) and IRF quality reporting. Addresses proposed changes to the wage index system that would adjust for geographical differences, potentially impacting rural areas.
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2019
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and offers recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Includes a chapter on access to primary care for Medicare beneficiaries that addresses rural access to care and programs supporting it, such as the National Health Service Corps. Other sections of the report addressing rural concerns focus on Medicare enrollment, changes in hospice and post-acute care after implementing the long-term care hospital dual payment-rate structure, and Medicare fee-for-service spending for emergency department services.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and offers recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Includes a chapter on access to primary care for Medicare beneficiaries that addresses rural access to care and programs supporting it, such as the National Health Service Corps. Other sections of the report addressing rural concerns focus on Medicare enrollment, changes in hospice and post-acute care after implementing the long-term care hospital dual payment-rate structure, and Medicare fee-for-service spending for emergency department services.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Cost-Sharing as a Barrier to Accessing Care at FQHCs and RHCs for Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
Results of a national study investigating cost barriers, using data acquired after enactment of the Affordable Care Act and viewed from perspectives other than ambulatory care sensitive hospitalizations. Features statistics including descriptive data of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) from the study sample, with breakdowns by rural and urban location.
Author(s): Alex R. Schulte, George H. Pink, Mark Holmes, Denise Kirk
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Results of a national study investigating cost barriers, using data acquired after enactment of the Affordable Care Act and viewed from perspectives other than ambulatory care sensitive hospitalizations. Features statistics including descriptive data of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) from the study sample, with breakdowns by rural and urban location.
Author(s): Alex R. Schulte, George H. Pink, Mark Holmes, Denise Kirk
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Investing in America's Health Care
Recording of a U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on a wide variety of healthcare bills addressing funding for community health centers, teaching health centers, the National Health Service Corps, a tribal diabetes program, the National Quality Forum, Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, and more. Includes testimony from Shasta Community Health Center, Vidant Health, SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, Medicare Rights Center, and others.
Additional links: C. Dean Germano Testimony, Diana Autin Testimony, Fred Riccardi Testimony, Michael Waldrum Testimony, Thomas Barker Testimony
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health
view details
Recording of a U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health hearing on a wide variety of healthcare bills addressing funding for community health centers, teaching health centers, the National Health Service Corps, a tribal diabetes program, the National Quality Forum, Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments, and more. Includes testimony from Shasta Community Health Center, Vidant Health, SPAN Parent Advocacy Network, Medicare Rights Center, and others.
Additional links: C. Dean Germano Testimony, Diana Autin Testimony, Fred Riccardi Testimony, Michael Waldrum Testimony, Thomas Barker Testimony
Date: 06/2019
Type: Video/Multimedia
Sponsoring organization: House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Health
view details
The Health Care Costs of Financial Exploitation in Maine
Results of a study of dual eligible older adults in Maine who had substantiated allegations of elder financial exploitation. Identifies a higher portion of this group living in rural areas and estimates costs to Medicare and Medicaid.
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
view details
Results of a study of dual eligible older adults in Maine who had substantiated allegations of elder financial exploitation. Identifies a higher portion of this group living in rural areas and estimates costs to Medicare and Medicaid.
Date: 05/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
view details