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: Healthcare business and finance

Metropolitan Statistical Areas: New Standards and Their Impact on Selected Federal Programs
Describes the Office of Management and Budget's revised standards for defining metropolitan areas, and the impact these changes will have on federally funded programs that use the OMB's definition to determine program eligibility. The programs addressed are the Community Development Block Grant program, Locality Pay Program for General Schedule Employees, Medicare Hospital Reimbursement System and Ryan White CARE Act Program.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2004
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2004
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Discussion of rural aspects of Medicare payment policies are included throughout the report. Includes discussion of the growth of Medicare spending and quality of care Medicare recipients receive.
Date: 03/2004
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
view details
Rural Health Research in Progress in the Rural Health Research Centers Program, 8th Edition
Describes the research and policy analysis projects underway in the Rural Health Research Centers Program of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). Projects are arranged by topic, with indexes by funding source, center, and project title.
Date: 02/2004
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
view details
Medicare Home Health: Payments to Freestanding Home Health Agencies More Than Covered Their Costs
Discusses an evaluation of Medicare payments to freestanding home health agencies (HHAs). Includes comparison of Medicare margins for urban and rural HHAs.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2004
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
view details
The Financial Benefits of Critical Access Hospital Conversion for FY 1999 and FY 2000 Converters
Discusses the impact of conversion to Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status on the financial condition of rural hospitals one and two years after conversion. CAHs' pre- and post-conversion revenues are compared, and CAH revenues are compared to small rural hospitals that did not convert to cost-based Medicare reimbursement.
Author(s): Jeffrey Stensland, Gestur Davidson, Ira Moscovice
Date: 01/2004
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
view details
Health, United States, 2004: With Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans with Special Feature on Drugs
Presents an annual overview of national trends in health statistics. Covers health status and determinants, healthcare utilization, access, and expenditures. Includes data on rural areas - see index under "metropolitan/nonmetropolitan data." 2004 edition includes a feature on prescription and nonprescription drug use.
Date: 2004
Sponsoring organization: National Center for Health Statistics
view details
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