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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare business and finance

Affordable Care Act Plans and Premiums in Rural America
Discusses insurance premium pricing for rural populations following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, with a focus on rating area design to create adequate networks. Examines preliminary findings from a study focused on premium prices in rural Iowa and Nebraska. Offers recommendations to maximize the number of rural Americans who receive accessible, affordable health insurance.
Date: 07/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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Rural Residents Who Are Hospitalized in Rural and Urban Hospitals: United States, 2010
Reports on hospitalized rural residents, with a comparison of those treated at rural versus urban hospitals. Includes data on patients' age, payment source (Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance), number of procedures, and discharge status. Based on data from the 2010 National Hospital Discharge Survey.
Author(s): Margaret Jean Hall, Maria F. Owings
Date: 07/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
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Facilitating the Formation of Accountable Care Organizations in Rural Areas
Presents characteristics contributing to the formation of four accountable care organizations (ACOs) that serve rural Medicare beneficiaries and discusses implications for policies that facilitate rural ACO formation. Three of the ACOs in this study operate in both rural and metropolitan areas, and one operates exclusively in a rural area.
Author(s): Jure Baloh, Xi Zhu, Tom Vaughn, et al.
Date: 07/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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How Does Medicaid Expansion Affect Insurance Coverage of Rural Populations?
Examines how states' decisions on Medicaid expansion are impacting rural areas in the U.S. Uses population estimates, the status of state expansion as of July 2014, and state-level insurance estimates to answer two primary questions: how is Medicaid expansion affecting rural populations, and how would it differ if every state were to expand Medicaid?
Author(s): Kristie Thompson, Brystana Kaufman, Mark Holmes
Date: 07/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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The Effect of Medicare Payment Policy Changes on Rural Primary Care Practice Revenue
Discusses the effect of Medicare payment adjustments on Medicare-derived revenues to rural primary care providers.
Additional links: Supplemental Table
Author(s): Paula Weigel, A. Clinton MacKinney, Fred Ullrich, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 07/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2014
Includes chapters on synchronizing Medicare policy across payment models; improving risk adjustment; measuring quality of care; financial assistance for low-income beneficiaries; per beneficiary payment for primary care; site-neutral payments for select conditions treated in inpatient rehabilitation facilities and skilled nursing facilities; and measuring the effects of medication adherence for the Medicare population. Mentions rural throughout.
Date: 06/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Update: Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in Rural America, 2003-2013
Examines the closure of independently owned rural pharmacies in America from 2003-2013 and its impact on rural Americans' access to medications and other pharmacy services. Tables 1 and 2 provide data on state-by-state changes between 2003-2009 and 2003-2013. This report is an update to past publications from RUPRI.
Author(s): Fred Ullrich, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 06/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Affordable Care Act Opportunities for Community Health Workers: How Medicaid Preventive Services, Medicaid Health Homes, and State Innovation Models are Including Community Health Workers
Discusses how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has provided substantial incentives and opportunities to increase the role of community health workers (CHWs) in state Medicaid programs in urban and rural healthcare facilities (e.g. Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers).
Author(s): Amy Katzen, Maggie Morgan
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
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Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System for FQHCs; Changes to Contracting Policies for RHCs; and Changes to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 Enforcement Actions for Proficiency Testing Referral
The final rule with comment period that implements the methodology and payment rates for a prospective payment system (PPS) for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) services beginning October 1, 2014, under Medicare Part B, in compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Identifies the policy allowing Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) to contract with nonphysician practitioners when statutory requirements for employment of nurse practitioners and physician assistants are met, and incorporated other technical changes to FQHC and RHC regulations. Changes to the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 enforcement actions for proficiency testing referral are included.
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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The Virginia Health Care Landscape
Provides an overview of Virginia's demographics, state economy, population health, insurance coverage, Medicaid beneficiaries, and safety net providers, including Critical Access Hospitals. Includes some discussion of rural healthcare issues.
Date: 05/2014
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: KFF
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