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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Medicare

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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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An Analysis of the Agreement of Financial Data Between the Medicare Cost Report and the Audited Hospital Financial Statement
Describes the results of a study of rural hospital financial measures, comparing Medicare Cost Reports with audited hospital financial statements.
Author(s): Li-Wu Chen, Julie Stoner, Catherine Makhanu, Kathy Minikus, Keith J. Mueller
Date: 05/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-173): A Summary of Provisions Important to Rural Health Care Delivery
Overview of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-173) as it relates to rural healthcare. Includes information on how this Act impacts beneficiaries, healthcare access, and payments to rural healthcare providers.
Author(s): Keith J. Mueller
Date: 01/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Rural Policy Research Institute
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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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy
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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
Type: Document
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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
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Medicare Physician Payment: Practice Expense
Describes the variation in Medicare payment for practice expense using the Geographic Practice Cost Indexes (GPCIs). Explains the factors that are used to calculate GPCIs and lists the 2003 GPCIs. Discusses potential impact of lower Medicare reimbursement to rural physicians for practice expense.
Author(s): A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Michael D. Shambaugh-Miller, Keith J. Mueller
Citation: RUPRI Rural Policy Brief, 8(9)
Date: 10/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Availability and Use of Health Plan Choices in Rural America: Medicare+Choice, Commercial HMO, and Federal Employees Health Benefit Program Plans
Discusses availability of Medicare+Choice (M+C), commercial HMO, and Federal Employee Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) insurance plans, and the potential impact of M+C service delivery area changes on healthcare access in rural areas.
Author(s): Timothy McBride, Courtney Andrews, Keith Mueller, Michael Shambaugh-Miller
Date: 10/2003
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Rural Policy Research Institute
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