This website is being reviewed for updates. Some information is offline. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health insurance

Modeling the Frontier Extended Stay Clinic Conditions of Participation and Reimbursement Methodologies
Discusses the financial feasibility of the Frontier Extended Stay Clinic (FESC), a proposed provider type to expand services in remote and isolated primary care clinics. Compares Medicare reimbursement for FESC status with Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), Rural Health Clinic (RHC), and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) reimbursement. Includes detailed examples of financial impact for seven clinics in rural Alaska, Nevada, Washington, and Wyoming.
Date: 2004
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
view details
Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003
Text of the legislation that adds a prescription drug benefit to Medicare and enhances some rural healthcare programs, such as the Critical Access Hospitals program.
Date: 11/2003
view details
Rural-Urban Issues in the Wage Index Adjustment for Prospective Payment in Skilled Nursing Facilities
Discusses the use of the hospital wage index for the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system (SNF PPS) and how a change to an SNF wage index would impact rural and urban skilled nursing facilities. Also identifies some related issues that impact reimbursement to SNFs in both urban and rural areas.
Additional links: Findings Brief, January 2004
Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 11/2003
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
view details
Health Insurance Coverage of the Rural and Urban Near Elderly
Results of a study of health insurance coverage of those between 55 and 64 years old. Includes data for rural and urban near elderly. Covers sources of health insurance coverage and rates of uninsurance.
Author(s): Erika C. Ziller, Andrew F. Coburn
Date: 10/2003
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
view details
Health Insurance Coverage in Rural America: Chartbook
Information on rural-urban differences in health insurance coverage and differences in socio-economic and employment characteristics of those living in rural versus urban counties.
Additional links: The Uninsured in Rural America Fact Sheet
Author(s): Erika C. Ziller, Andrew F. Coburn, Stephenie L. Loux, Catherine Hoffman, Timothy D. McBride
Date: 09/2003
Sponsoring organization: KFF
view details
Ambulance Services: Medicare Payments Can be Better Targeted to Trips in Less Densely Populated Rural Areas
Covers factors that affect ambulance costs per trip, how these factors vary across geographic areas, and how well Medicare payments account for geographic cost differences.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 09/2003
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Variation and Innovation in Medicare
Analyzes variation within the Medicare program and explores a variety of possible payment innovations. Includes some rural-specific information. Geographic, market, quality, hospital financial performance, and use of physician services variations are covered. Also examines Medicare's reimbursement for Part B drugs. Recommendations include quality incentives and competitive pricing.
Date: 06/2003
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
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
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
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
Sponsoring organization: Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
view details
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
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
view details