Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Health insurance
MedPAC Comment on CMS's Proposed Rule on the Home Health Prospective Payment System for CY 2025
Comments on a July 3, 2024, Federal Register proposed rule related to Medicare payment policies for home health agencies. Includes comments regarding permanent and temporary budget-neutrality adjustments, the plan of care development and scope of services home health patients receive, and the proposed adoption of the core-based statistical area (CBSA) delineations for the home health wage index.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Comments on a July 3, 2024, Federal Register proposed rule related to Medicare payment policies for home health agencies. Includes comments regarding permanent and temporary budget-neutrality adjustments, the plan of care development and scope of services home health patients receive, and the proposed adoption of the core-based statistical area (CBSA) delineations for the home health wage index.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
The Cross-State Licensure Continuum: Out-of-State Telehealth Provider Policies
Provides an overview of policy alternatives to full in-state licensure for telehealth providers adopted by states. Describes limited licensure exceptions, telehealth license or registration processes, and interstate licensure compacts, as well as limitations to these policies. Includes a chart indicating which, if any, policies and compacts each state has implemented as of July 2024.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
view details
Provides an overview of policy alternatives to full in-state licensure for telehealth providers adopted by states. Describes limited licensure exceptions, telehealth license or registration processes, and interstate licensure compacts, as well as limitations to these policies. Includes a chart indicating which, if any, policies and compacts each state has implemented as of July 2024.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Center for Connected Health Policy: The National Telehealth Policy Resource Center
view details
Access in Brief: Seniors and Adults with Physical Disabilities
Explores access to Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports (LTSS) among Medicaid beneficiaries age 65 and older and Medicaid beneficiaries aged 18-64 with physical disabilities. Describes the demographics, health status, service use, and experiences with Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) of these Medicaid beneficiaries using data from the 2017-2018 National Core Indicators Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) Adult Consumer Survey. Presents rural and urban data by multiple factors including dually eligible status.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
view details
Explores access to Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports (LTSS) among Medicaid beneficiaries age 65 and older and Medicaid beneficiaries aged 18-64 with physical disabilities. Describes the demographics, health status, service use, and experiences with Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) of these Medicaid beneficiaries using data from the 2017-2018 National Core Indicators Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD) Adult Consumer Survey. Presents rural and urban data by multiple factors including dually eligible status.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
view details
Voice of the REH CEO: Perspectives from Those Who Have Led Their Organizations Through REH Conversion
Summarizes interviews with executives from three hospitals that converted to Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) status regarding their perspectives on conversion. Describes the assessment of the financial feasibility of REH status, preparation of the communities for conversion, staffing and service line adjustments, and the impact of conversion. Includes legislative considerations that could make REH status more attractive to rural hospitals.
Author(s): Hope Burch, Tracey Dorff, Anna Anna, Janice Walters
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Redesign Center
view details
Summarizes interviews with executives from three hospitals that converted to Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) status regarding their perspectives on conversion. Describes the assessment of the financial feasibility of REH status, preparation of the communities for conversion, staffing and service line adjustments, and the impact of conversion. Includes legislative considerations that could make REH status more attractive to rural hospitals.
Author(s): Hope Burch, Tracey Dorff, Anna Anna, Janice Walters
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Redesign Center
view details
Medicare Advantage in 2024: Enrollment Update and Key Trends
Explores trends related to the growth of the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Provides statistics on MA enrollment, the types of plans in which beneficiaries are enrolled, and geographic variation. Includes interactive maps that display MA penetration rates by state and county.
Author(s): Meredith Freed, Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Anthony Damico, Tricia Neuman
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: KFF
view details
Explores trends related to the growth of the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Provides statistics on MA enrollment, the types of plans in which beneficiaries are enrolled, and geographic variation. Includes interactive maps that display MA penetration rates by state and county.
Author(s): Meredith Freed, Jeannie Fuglesten Biniek, Anthony Damico, Tricia Neuman
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: KFF
view details
Kansas Marketplace Enrollment Reached Record High for Third Consecutive Year
Provides a data overview of the Kansas 2024 open enrollment period (OEP) for health insurance plans. Includes health insurance information and county-level maps showing percentage of population selecting a plan and the number of insurers available per region.
Author(s): Cynthia Snyder, Viktoria Sterkhova, Kaci Cink, Linda J. Sheppard
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Kansas Health Institute
view details
Provides a data overview of the Kansas 2024 open enrollment period (OEP) for health insurance plans. Includes health insurance information and county-level maps showing percentage of population selecting a plan and the number of insurers available per region.
Author(s): Cynthia Snyder, Viktoria Sterkhova, Kaci Cink, Linda J. Sheppard
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Kansas Health Institute
view details
FY 2025 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) Final Rule – CMS-1808-F
Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fiscal year 2025 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS) final rule. Includes information about the extension of the low-wage index hospital policy, a separate IPPS payment for small and independent hospitals to establish and maintain a buffer stock of essential medicines, the distribution of graduate medical education (GME) residency slots, updates to quality reporting programs, and more.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
view details
Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) fiscal year 2025 hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS) final rule. Includes information about the extension of the low-wage index hospital policy, a separate IPPS payment for small and independent hospitals to establish and maintain a buffer stock of essential medicines, the distribution of graduate medical education (GME) residency slots, updates to quality reporting programs, and more.
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
view details
An REH Conversion Story: Harper County Hospital
Profiles Oklahoma's Harper County Hospital and its transition from a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH). Summarizes an interview with Kevin O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Harper County Hospital, regarding the experience of converting to REH status. Covers the hospital's financial position before conversion, including limitations to being a county-owned hospital; the exploration of the REH designation; and the financial and operational impacts of the REH designation, including services added by the hospital after the conversion.
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Redesign Center
view details
Profiles Oklahoma's Harper County Hospital and its transition from a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH). Summarizes an interview with Kevin O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Harper County Hospital, regarding the experience of converting to REH status. Covers the hospital's financial position before conversion, including limitations to being a county-owned hospital; the exploration of the REH designation; and the financial and operational impacts of the REH designation, including services added by the hospital after the conversion.
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Redesign Center
view details
An REH Conversion Story: Mercy Hospital
Profiles Mercy Hospital, in Moundridge, Kansas, and its transition from a prospective payment system (PPS) hospital to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH). Summarizes an interview with Aaron Herbel, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mercy Hospital, regarding the experience of converting to REH status. Covers the conversion timeline, the involvement of hospital and community stakeholders, and the opening of a walk-in clinic that coincided with the REH conversion.
Author(s): Hope Burch, Tracey Dorff, Anna Anna, Janice Walters
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Redesign Center
view details
Profiles Mercy Hospital, in Moundridge, Kansas, and its transition from a prospective payment system (PPS) hospital to a Rural Emergency Hospital (REH). Summarizes an interview with Aaron Herbel, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mercy Hospital, regarding the experience of converting to REH status. Covers the conversion timeline, the involvement of hospital and community stakeholders, and the opening of a walk-in clinic that coincided with the REH conversion.
Author(s): Hope Burch, Tracey Dorff, Anna Anna, Janice Walters
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Redesign Center
view details
Characteristics of People Using Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports, 2021
Presents data on the characteristics of individuals who used Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) in 2021, including age, dual-eligibility status, rural or urban residence, and race and ethnicity. Offers data on home and community-based service (HCBS) users by HCBS program and state plan option types and institutional service users by setting type.
Author(s): Cara Stepanczuk, Alexandra Carpenter, Andrea Wysocki
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica
view details
Presents data on the characteristics of individuals who used Medicaid long-term services and supports (LTSS) in 2021, including age, dual-eligibility status, rural or urban residence, and race and ethnicity. Offers data on home and community-based service (HCBS) users by HCBS program and state plan option types and institutional service users by setting type.
Author(s): Cara Stepanczuk, Alexandra Carpenter, Andrea Wysocki
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organizations: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mathematica
view details