Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Medicare

Will Bundling Work in Rural America? Analysis of the Feasibility and Consequences of Bundled Payments for Rural Health Providers and Patients
Assesses how bundled payments may affect both healthcare quality and access among rural providers, and explains the financial and operational challenges associated with implementing bundled payments in low-volume providers such as Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Author(s): Robert Town, Walter Gregg, Ira Moscovice, Shailendra Prasad, Jill Klingner
Date: 09/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
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March 2011: Growth in PPOs Dominates the Rural MA Market in 2011
Outlines Medicare Advantage enrollment numbers and trends.
Author(s): Leah Kemper, Lisa Pollack, Timothy D. McBride, Keith Mueller
Date: 04/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy, 2011
Annual review of Medicare payment policies, with recommendations to Congress. Discussions of rural aspects of Medicare payment policies are included in the report.
Date: 03/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Home Health Study Report: Literature Review
Presents a literature search which was used as a background to aid the development of a study and report on potential revisions to the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS). Report includes rural and underserved populations.
Author(s): Judy Goldberg Dey, Margaret Johnson, William Pajerowski, Myra Tanamor, Alyson Ward
Date: 01/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Medicare Beneficiary Access to Primary Care Physicians – Better in Rural, but Still Worrisome
Presents results from a national physician survey used to assess U.S. primary care physician and general surgeon willingness to accept Medicare patients and physician-reported reasons for not accepting Medicare patients.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney, Liyan Xu, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 01/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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MedPAC Report to Congress: Regional Variation in Medicare Service Use
Presents data on regional variations in Medicare spending and Medicare-covered service use, including for nonmetropolitan areas. Data used was adjusted to account for differences in small rural hospital and Critical Access Hospital Medicare payment rates.
Date: 01/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Impacts on Rural People, Places, and Providers: A First Look
Summarizes six issue areas of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and discusses implications for access to services and improving the health status of rural residents. These issue areas are: health insurance coverage; Medicare and Medicaid payment; quality, financing, and delivery system reform; public health; healthcare workforce; and long-term care.
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Jennifer P. Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 09/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
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A Comparison of Rural Hospitals with Special Medicare Payment Provisions to Urban and Rural Hospitals Paid Under Prospective Payment
Compares the financial performance and condition of rural hospitals with special Medicare payment provisions - Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Medicare Dependent Hospitals (MDHs), Sole Community Hospitals (SCHs), and Rural Referral Centers (RRCs) - to urban and rural hospitals paid under prospective payment.
Additional links: Findings Brief: A Financial Comparison of Rural Hospitals With Special Medicare Payment Provisions to Hospitals Paid Under Prospective Payment, 4/2010, Findings Brief: Profitability of Rural Hospitals Paid Under Prospective Payment Compared to Rural Hospitals with Special Medicare Payment Provisions, 9/2010
Author(s): G. Mark Holmes, George H. Pink, Sarah A. Friedman, Hilda A. Howard
Date: 08/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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The Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative: Implications for Rural Physicians
Discusses the impact of rurality on office-based physicians' participation in the 2007 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), a voluntary pay-for-reporting program in Medicare.
Author(s): Alycia Infante, Michael Meit, Elizabeth Hargrave
Date: 08/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Rural Medicare Advantage: Modest Enrollment Growth in 2010
Reports trends in rural Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment.
Author(s): Leah Kemper, Timothy D. McBride, Keith Mueller
Date: 08/2010
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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