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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy

Trends in Rural Hospital Closure: 1990 - 2000
Focuses on the extent, characteristics, reasons for and impact of rural hospitals closures from 1990 through 2000. Includes rural hospital closure data by state.
Date: 05/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of Inspector General (HHS)
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Health Care Quality: The Rural Context
Report to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Examines healthcare quality and patient safety from a rural perspective, discusses the rural impact of quality initiatives underway within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and offers policy recommendations.
Date: 04/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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National Advisory Committee on Rural Health & Human Services Meeting Minutes, Washington, DC, March 2-4, 2003
Minutes of a National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services meeting. Topics addressed include quality of care, integrating behavioral health and primary care, oral health, and aging issues.
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Analysis of Availability of Medicare + Choice, Commercial HMO, and FEHBP Plans in Rural Areas: Implications for Medicare Reform
Examines viability of introducing private competition into the Medicare program. Discusses availability of Medicare+Choice (M+C), commercial HMO, and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) plans in rural (nonmetropolitan) counties.
Author(s): Timothy McBride, Courtney Andrews, Keith Mueller, Michael Shambaugh-Miller
Citation: RUPRI Rural Policy Brief, 8(5)
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2003
Report to the Congress. Reviews the Medicare prospective payment systems (PPSs) for seven sectors: hospital inpatient, hospital outpatient, physician, skilled nursing, home health, outpatient dialysis, and ambulatory surgical center services. Also discusses broader issues related to Medicare payments. Includes recommendations. Appendix with data on hospital financial performance for 1991-2000.
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Addressing the New Health Care Crisis: Reforming the Medical Litigation System to Improve the Quality of Health Care
Discusses the medical litigation system as it relates to health care access. Includes statistics on malpractice insurance rates. Proposes limits on non-economic damages and protection from litigation for reporting safety problems.
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
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Shared Destiny: Community Effects of Uninsurance
Discusses effects of uninsurance on healthcare financing, delivery and access. Discusses economic and social implications of uninsurance for communities, including information specific to rural communities.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance
Date: 03/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Innovative Primary Care Case Management Programs Operating in Rural Communities: Case Studies of Three States
Discusses state programs that provide enhanced benefits to Medicaid beneficiaries such as enhanced primary care case management (PCCM). Includes examples from three states: Florida, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
Additional links: Findings Brief, March 2003: Design of Enhanced Primary Care Case Management Programs Operating in Rural Communities: Lessons Learned from Three States
Author(s): Pam Silberman, Stephanie Poley, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 01/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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An Assessment of Proposals for a Medicare Outpatient Prescription Drug Benefit: The Rural Perspective
Assesses legislative proposals to add an outpatient prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program and their implications for the delivery of services and the welfare of beneficiaries in rural areas.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Charles W. Fluharty, J. Patrick Hart, et al.
Date: 01/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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Medicare Physician Payment
Provides an overview of how physicians are paid by Medicare, with a focus on the adjustments made related to geographic practice cost indexes (GPCIs). Discusses rural issues related to Medicare physician payment, including impact on physician recruitment and retention and healthcare access.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney, Michael D. Shambaugh-Miller, Keith Mueller
Citation: RUPRI Rural Policy Brief, 8(2)
Date: 01/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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