Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health insurance
Closing the Coverage Gap: Policy Considerations for Public-Private Solutions to Expand Health Insurance in Georgia
Explores policy and funding considerations influencing the expansion of health insurance in Georgia, including current programs, population health and demographics, and Medicaid expansion models. Evaluates the suitability of the Arkansas "private option" expansion approach for Georgia, and discusses its implementation. Highlights rural concerns throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Health Initiative
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Explores policy and funding considerations influencing the expansion of health insurance in Georgia, including current programs, population health and demographics, and Medicaid expansion models. Evaluates the suitability of the Arkansas "private option" expansion approach for Georgia, and discusses its implementation. Highlights rural concerns throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Georgia Health Initiative
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Beneficiary and Clinician Perspectives on Medicare and Other Issues: Findings from 2023 Focus Groups in Select States
Summarizes findings from 24 focus groups of Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligible) beneficiaries, and clinicians conducted between May and July 2023, including three virtual focus groups of rural Medicare beneficiaries. Highlights themes that emerged across the focus groups covering Medicare coverage options, access to care, telehealth, organization of care, and prescription drugs.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Summarizes findings from 24 focus groups of Medicare beneficiaries, Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligible) beneficiaries, and clinicians conducted between May and July 2023, including three virtual focus groups of rural Medicare beneficiaries. Highlights themes that emerged across the focus groups covering Medicare coverage options, access to care, telehealth, organization of care, and prescription drugs.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, NORC at the University of Chicago
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Evaluation of the Primary Care First Model: Second Annual Report
Provides an overview of the Primary Care First (PCF) model, which aims to enhance primary care and move primary care practitioners toward value-based payment. Describes the PCF model implementation experiences for Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 practices. Explores the preliminary impact of the PCF Model on acute hospitalizations and Medicare Part A and B expenditures relative to a comparison group. Estimates the impacts of the model on a set of seven leading indicators to provide an early assessment of whether care delivery changes are resulting in meaningful early outcome changes. Highlights implications from this report for the Primary Care First model and future models.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica
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Provides an overview of the Primary Care First (PCF) model, which aims to enhance primary care and move primary care practitioners toward value-based payment. Describes the PCF model implementation experiences for Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 practices. Explores the preliminary impact of the PCF Model on acute hospitalizations and Medicare Part A and B expenditures relative to a comparison group. Estimates the impacts of the model on a set of seven leading indicators to provide an early assessment of whether care delivery changes are resulting in meaningful early outcome changes. Highlights implications from this report for the Primary Care First model and future models.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica
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Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review Measures Under Consideration: 2023 Recommendations Report
Reviews the 42 pre-rulemaking quality measures the Battelle's Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) considered during the 2023-2024 Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR) cycle. Discusses measures for clinician, hospital, and post-acute care/long-term care programs. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Partnership for Quality Measurement
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Reviews the 42 pre-rulemaking quality measures the Battelle's Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) considered during the 2023-2024 Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR) cycle. Discusses measures for clinician, hospital, and post-acute care/long-term care programs. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Partnership for Quality Measurement
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Medicare Advantage: It's Here, Now What?
Slides from a presentation at the 2024 National Rural Health Association's Policy Institute conference that discuss Medicare Advantage, with data on eligibility and enrollment percentages depicted for select states as well as by metro versus nonmetro location.
Author(s): Keith J Mueller
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Iowa College of Public Health, Rural Policy Research Institute
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Slides from a presentation at the 2024 National Rural Health Association's Policy Institute conference that discuss Medicare Advantage, with data on eligibility and enrollment percentages depicted for select states as well as by metro versus nonmetro location.
Author(s): Keith J Mueller
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Iowa College of Public Health, Rural Policy Research Institute
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Policy and Research Update: Financial Models for Rural Hospitals
Slides presented at the 2024 American Hospital Association's Rural Health Care Leadership conference that discuss healthcare payment policies, value-based care, alternative payment models, Medicare Advantage, and more. Provides discussion on how rural hospitals are are adapting to financial models, statistics on insurance adoption, and related resources.
Author(s): Christina Campos, Kristen Dillon, Keith Mueller, George Pink
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Iowa College of Public Health, Rural Policy Research Institute
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Slides presented at the 2024 American Hospital Association's Rural Health Care Leadership conference that discuss healthcare payment policies, value-based care, alternative payment models, Medicare Advantage, and more. Provides discussion on how rural hospitals are are adapting to financial models, statistics on insurance adoption, and related resources.
Author(s): Christina Campos, Kristen Dillon, Keith Mueller, George Pink
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Iowa College of Public Health, Rural Policy Research Institute
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Medicare Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS): Rural and Super Rural Organizations Tip Sheet
Covers 6 Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS) tips and common reporting scenarios for ground ambulance organizations serving rural and super rural areas. Intended to help highlight geographic differences in costs, revenues, and services.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Covers 6 Ground Ambulance Data Collection System (GADCS) tips and common reporting scenarios for ground ambulance organizations serving rural and super rural areas. Intended to help highlight geographic differences in costs, revenues, and services.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model: Evaluation Report 2
Presents findings from the first year of the implementation of the Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model, which aims to improve health outcomes for Medicaid-enrolled children with complex physical and behavioral health needs. Provides an overview of the InCK Model and profiles each InCK award recipient's model, community context, approach to assessing beneficiary needs, and alternative payment model design. Identifies models serving rural areas and service gaps in these areas.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Presents findings from the first year of the implementation of the Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model, which aims to improve health outcomes for Medicaid-enrolled children with complex physical and behavioral health needs. Provides an overview of the InCK Model and profiles each InCK award recipient's model, community context, approach to assessing beneficiary needs, and alternative payment model design. Identifies models serving rural areas and service gaps in these areas.
Additional links: Findings at a Glance
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Abt Associates, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Access in Brief: Adults with Intellectual Disabilities and Developmental Disabilities
Issue brief examining access to Medicaid coverage for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD), using data for fiscal years 2017-2018. Compares characteristics of adult Medicaid beneficiaries with ID/DD across racial and ethnic groups and by Medicaid-only or dually eligible status. Includes a section on home and community-based services and features demographics including breakdowns by rural or urban residence.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Issue brief examining access to Medicaid coverage for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities (ID/DD), using data for fiscal years 2017-2018. Compares characteristics of adult Medicaid beneficiaries with ID/DD across racial and ethnic groups and by Medicaid-only or dually eligible status. Includes a section on home and community-based services and features demographics including breakdowns by rural or urban residence.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
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Unrelenting Pressure Pushes Rural Safety Net Crisis Into Uncharted Territory
Examines financial and operational metrics for rural hospitals. Discusses the growth of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment in rural communities between 2019 and 2023, the impact of MA on rural hospital reimbursement, how the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation can provide a path forward for some rural facilities, and the discontinuation of obstetrics and chemotherapy services at rural hospitals since 2011. Includes the percentage of rural hospitals in each state vulnerable to closure and nine factors significantly associated with rural hospital vulnerability.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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Examines financial and operational metrics for rural hospitals. Discusses the growth of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment in rural communities between 2019 and 2023, the impact of MA on rural hospital reimbursement, how the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) designation can provide a path forward for some rural facilities, and the discontinuation of obstetrics and chemotherapy services at rural hospitals since 2011. Includes the percentage of rural hospitals in each state vulnerable to closure and nine factors significantly associated with rural hospital vulnerability.
Date: 02/2024
Sponsoring organization: Chartis Center for Rural Health
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