Tagged: Rural Products

A Comparison of Closed Rural Hospitals and Perceived Impact

From 2010 through 2014, 47 rural hospitals,  ceased providing inpatient services in 23 states across the country (“closed”). Among the 47 closed hospitals, 26 hospitals no longer provide any health care services (“abandoned”), and 21 continue to provide a mix of health services but no inpatient care (“converted”). These closures have affected approximately 800,000 people… Read more »

The 21st Century Rural Hospital: A Chart Book

Hospitals have changed over recent decades. Hospital stays are shorter. Procedures once requiring hospitalization are now done in an outpatient setting. Hospitals have moved beyond providing mainly inpatient and emergency department care. They have become vertically integrated systems with “one-stop shopping” for all of one’s health care needs. The transformation of hospitals has also occurred… Read more »

Rural Provider Perceptions of the ACA: Case Studies in Four States

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded health insurance coverage to previously uninsured populations by allowing states to expand Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level (FPL) as well as by creating health insurance marketplaces to subsidize affordable coverage. However, states with a higher number or proportion of rural… Read more »

Do Current Medicare Rural Hospital Payment Systems Align with Cost Determinants?

The financial performance of small, rural hospitals has long been a concern to federal and state agencies. Federal law makers have enacted legislation authorizing the Medicare program to develop reimbursement methods that provide higher payments to hospitals that serve rural communities (Critical Access Hospitals, Sole Community Hospitals, Medicare-Dependent Hospitals, and Standard Prospective Payment Systems hospitals). Current… Read more »

Rural-Urban Differences in Continuity of Care among Medicare Beneficiaries

In response to the Affordable Care Act and other reforms in the health care market, new models of care are being tested and implemented across the country. Care and payment models such as patient-centered medical homes, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), and bundled payments depend on linkages between different types of health care providers to ensure… Read more »

Rural Health Snapshots

Rural Health Snapshot 2010 Disparities in health status and access to health care exist between people living in rural areas and those in urban areas. Rural Health Snapshot 2010 displays selected indicators of access to health care, health behavior/risk factors, and mortality rates, comparing rural to urban residents. It were compiled using the following geographic… Read more »

State Medicaid Profiles

Nationally, Medicaid provides health insurance to a larger share of the population in rural areas than in urban areas. Both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are also critical sources of income for rural health care providers and help contribute to economic development within these communities. While there are many resources on Medicaid… Read more »