Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Policy
The Impact of COVID-19 on CAH Financial Indicators
Describes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Critical Access Hospital (CAH) financial indicators. Compares summary statistics on CAH financial indicators across eight categories in the six years prior to the pandemic (April 2015 - March 2020) to the same metrics during the pandemic (April 2020 - March 2022).
Author(s): Laura McFadyen, George Pink, Susie Gurzenda, Kristie W. Thompson, Kristin L. Reiter
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Describes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Critical Access Hospital (CAH) financial indicators. Compares summary statistics on CAH financial indicators across eight categories in the six years prior to the pandemic (April 2015 - March 2020) to the same metrics during the pandemic (April 2020 - March 2022).
Author(s): Laura McFadyen, George Pink, Susie Gurzenda, Kristie W. Thompson, Kristin L. Reiter
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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The Impact of COVID-19 Funding on Profitability of Critical Access Hospitals
Examines the impacts of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) funding on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares CAH operating margins in the six years prior to the pandemic (April 2015 - March 2020) to operating margins during the pandemic (April 2020 - March 2022). Offers estimates to what CAH profitability would have been if CAHs did not receive PHE funding.
Author(s): Laura McFadyen, George Pink, Susie Gurzenda, Kristie W. Thompson, Kristin L. Reiter
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Examines the impacts of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) funding on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares CAH operating margins in the six years prior to the pandemic (April 2015 - March 2020) to operating margins during the pandemic (April 2020 - March 2022). Offers estimates to what CAH profitability would have been if CAHs did not receive PHE funding.
Author(s): Laura McFadyen, George Pink, Susie Gurzenda, Kristie W. Thompson, Kristin L. Reiter
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Advancing Health and Resilience in the Gulf of Mexico Region: Roadmap for Progress
Describes the current state of health and community resilience in the Gulf of Mexico region and identifies roadblocks to progress. Offers policy recommendations focused on addressing critical gaps in data and funding community resilience. Presents a road map for improving health and community resilience in the Gulf region. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on Progress Toward Human Health and Community Resilience in the Gulf of Mexico Region
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Describes the current state of health and community resilience in the Gulf of Mexico region and identifies roadblocks to progress. Offers policy recommendations focused on addressing critical gaps in data and funding community resilience. Presents a road map for improving health and community resilience in the Gulf region. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Author(s): Committee on Progress Toward Human Health and Community Resilience in the Gulf of Mexico Region
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Critical Access Hospitals: Views on How Medicare Payment and Other Factors Affect Behavioral Health Services
Provides an overview of how Medicare payment policies for care provided by Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Explores how CAHs provide behavioral health services in their communities. Summarizes findings from interviews with officials from 10 CAHs, stakeholder organizations, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) regarding how Medicare payment policies and other factors affect CAHs' ability to provide behavioral health services.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Provides an overview of how Medicare payment policies for care provided by Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Explores how CAHs provide behavioral health services in their communities. Summarizes findings from interviews with officials from 10 CAHs, stakeholder organizations, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) regarding how Medicare payment policies and other factors affect CAHs' ability to provide behavioral health services.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Assessing the Effectiveness of Policies to Improve Access to Primary Care for Underserved Populations: Case Study Analysis: Kanawha County, West Virginia
Case study of policy initiatives to increase access to primary care, focusing on Kanawha County, West Virginia. Discusses workforce shortages, healthcare access, structural barriers to primary care, healthcare affordability, and more.
Author(s): Maanasa Kona, Jalisa Clark, Emma Walsh-Alker, Megan Houston
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Case study of policy initiatives to increase access to primary care, focusing on Kanawha County, West Virginia. Discusses workforce shortages, healthcare access, structural barriers to primary care, healthcare affordability, and more.
Author(s): Maanasa Kona, Jalisa Clark, Emma Walsh-Alker, Megan Houston
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Milbank Memorial Fund
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Addressing the Impact of Rural Hospital Closures on Maternal and Infant Health
Blog post discussing the impact of rural hospital closures on rural maternal and infant health outcomes. Identifies risk-appropriate strategies to ensure the provision of maternal and infant healthcare at facilities that best meet each individual's level of health risk. Covers birthing centers, hub-and-spoke models, and telehealth models to preserve access to care.
Author(s): Lexa Giragosian
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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Blog post discussing the impact of rural hospital closures on rural maternal and infant health outcomes. Identifies risk-appropriate strategies to ensure the provision of maternal and infant healthcare at facilities that best meet each individual's level of health risk. Covers birthing centers, hub-and-spoke models, and telehealth models to preserve access to care.
Author(s): Lexa Giragosian
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Association of State and Territorial Health Officials
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Updated Simulation of a Prospective Payment System for Post-Acute Care
Updates a potential unified post-acute care (PAC) prospective payment system (PPS) and estimates the impact of a PAC PPS on providers and Medicare beneficiaries. Presents data comparing the estimated costs payments to actual payments by rurality and region.
Author(s): Doug Wissoker, Bowen Garrett
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Urban Institute
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Updates a potential unified post-acute care (PAC) prospective payment system (PPS) and estimates the impact of a PAC PPS on providers and Medicare beneficiaries. Presents data comparing the estimated costs payments to actual payments by rurality and region.
Author(s): Doug Wissoker, Bowen Garrett
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Urban Institute
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Using Population-Based Outcome Measures to Assess the Impact of Telehealth Expansion on Medicare Beneficiaries' Access to Care and Quality of Care
Explores the feasibility of using population-based measures to estimate the association between telehealth use, quality of care, and access to care when both telehealth and in-person visits are available to fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries. Compares data from the second half of 2019 to the second half of 2021 by the level of telehealth utilization in Hospital Service Areas (HSAs). Includes rural references throughout.
Author(s): Morteza Saharkhiz, Tanvi Rao, Sara Parker Lue, et al.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Institutes for Research, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Explores the feasibility of using population-based measures to estimate the association between telehealth use, quality of care, and access to care when both telehealth and in-person visits are available to fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare beneficiaries. Compares data from the second half of 2019 to the second half of 2021 by the level of telehealth utilization in Hospital Service Areas (HSAs). Includes rural references throughout.
Author(s): Morteza Saharkhiz, Tanvi Rao, Sara Parker Lue, et al.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Institutes for Research, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program: Issues and Congressional Considerations
Provides an overview of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which was created to provide broadband service to unserved locations. Discusses three issues for potential consideration by Congress: determining unserved locations for BEAD funding allocations, connectivity technologies eligible for BEAD funding, and BEAD's relationship to other federal broadband programs.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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Provides an overview of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which was created to provide broadband service to unserved locations. Discusses three issues for potential consideration by Congress: determining unserved locations for BEAD funding allocations, connectivity technologies eligible for BEAD funding, and BEAD's relationship to other federal broadband programs.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Congressional Research Service
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2023
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and provides recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Chapter 7 presents a report on the use, payment, and quality of telehealth services that Medicare pays for separately under the physician fee schedule (PFS). Also includes chapters on the cost of drugs covered under Medicare Part B, postsale rebates for prescription drugs in Medicare Part D, standardized benefits in Medicare Advantage plans, future directions for Medicare Advantage payment policy, disparities in outcomes for beneficiaries with different social risks, Medicare behavioral health services, the alignment of fee-for-service payment rates across ambulatory settings, and the evaluation of a post-acute care prospective payment system prototype.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Evaluates Medicare payment issues and provides recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Chapter 7 presents a report on the use, payment, and quality of telehealth services that Medicare pays for separately under the physician fee schedule (PFS). Also includes chapters on the cost of drugs covered under Medicare Part B, postsale rebates for prescription drugs in Medicare Part D, standardized benefits in Medicare Advantage plans, future directions for Medicare Advantage payment policy, disparities in outcomes for beneficiaries with different social risks, Medicare behavioral health services, the alignment of fee-for-service payment rates across ambulatory settings, and the evaluation of a post-acute care prospective payment system prototype.
Date: 06/2023
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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