Health News
- Death Rates For Heart And Pneumonia Patients At Critical-access Hospitals Are Rising Nationally, Study Finds
Death rates are rising at rural critical-access hospitals for Medicare patients who have heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Hospitals designated as critical-access...
- Fiscal-cliff Deal Revives Program That Helps Rural Hospitals Dependent On Medicare; 200 In Nation, 10 In Kentucky
Even though most of the hospital industry wasn't happy with the fiscal-cliff deal that will only pay half the $30 billion needed to avoid a 27 percent Medicare fee cut for doctors, the deal gave about 200 rural hospitals, including 10 in Kentucky,...
- Lame-duck Congress Could Cut Funding For Critical Access Hospitals; More Than Two Dozen In Kentucky
Critical access hospitals, which in most states are rural facilities with fewer than 25 beds, may be under attack in the lame-duck session of Congress, former national rural-health director Wayne Myers writes for the Daily Yonder. President Obama's...
- Federal Cuts, Financial Instability And Competition Leave Many Rural Hospitals Fearing The Future
Many rural hospitals could be forced to close because of cuts to the Critical Access Program and the fact that, according to the National Rural Health Association, , 41 percent of critical-care hospitals are losing money, reports Jenny Gold of Kaiser...
- Small, Rural Hospitals With 'critical Access' Designation Have Poorer Patient Outcomes And Lower Quality Of Care, Study Finds
A study has found that small, rural hospitals with the "critical access" designation have poorer patient outcomes and lower quality of care. The analysis, performed by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, focused on nearly 1,300 critical...
Health News
Federal report says many hospitals wouldn't keep critical-access designation if distance rules were strictly enforced
More than two dozen Kentucky communities still have hospitals because of the critical-access hospital program, in which small, isolated hospitals get higher Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements in return for limiting their size and services. Now federal officials appear to be considering a move that could cost the hospitals money and perhaps put them at risk of closing.
Most of the hospitals would not meet current location requirements if required to re-enroll to get reimbursements from Medicare, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could realize substantial savings by revoking certification to some of these hospitals and reimbursing them at lower rates set by prospective payment systems and fee schedules rather than at 101 percent of costs, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The agency found that "the program costs the government and Medicare beneficiaries up to a billion dollars a year more than the original parameters of the law allowed," Jenny Gold reports for Kaiser Health News. If forced to re-enroll, 849 of the 1,329 hospitals in the program would not meet the requirements -- having 25 or fewer beds and being at least 35 miles away from another facility (15 miles in mountainous terrain) in communities that would otherwise have limited access to health services.
"Until 2006, states were allowed to waive the distance requirement and designate small hospitals considered 'necessary providers' as critical access hospitals as well, even if they were close to other facilities," Gold reports. "The program grew quickly and now nearly one in four acute care hospitals are getting the extra payments. Congress got rid of the loophole in 2006, but hospitals that already had the exemption were grandfathered." (Read more)
Critical-access hospitals are located in Barbourville, Berea, Burkesville, Cadiz, Carlisle, Carrollton, Franklin, Greensburg, Hardinsburg, Hartford, Harrodsburg, Horse Cave, Irvine, Liberty, Martin, McDowell, Monticello, Morganfield, Owenton, Princeton, Russell Springs, Salem, Scottsville, Stanford, Versailles and Williamstown. For a detailed list, click here.
Most of the hospitals would not meet current location requirements if required to re-enroll to get reimbursements from Medicare, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could realize substantial savings by revoking certification to some of these hospitals and reimbursing them at lower rates set by prospective payment systems and fee schedules rather than at 101 percent of costs, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services.
The agency found that "the program costs the government and Medicare beneficiaries up to a billion dollars a year more than the original parameters of the law allowed," Jenny Gold reports for Kaiser Health News. If forced to re-enroll, 849 of the 1,329 hospitals in the program would not meet the requirements -- having 25 or fewer beds and being at least 35 miles away from another facility (15 miles in mountainous terrain) in communities that would otherwise have limited access to health services.
"Until 2006, states were allowed to waive the distance requirement and designate small hospitals considered 'necessary providers' as critical access hospitals as well, even if they were close to other facilities," Gold reports. "The program grew quickly and now nearly one in four acute care hospitals are getting the extra payments. Congress got rid of the loophole in 2006, but hospitals that already had the exemption were grandfathered." (Read more)
Critical-access hospitals are located in Barbourville, Berea, Burkesville, Cadiz, Carlisle, Carrollton, Franklin, Greensburg, Hardinsburg, Hartford, Harrodsburg, Horse Cave, Irvine, Liberty, Martin, McDowell, Monticello, Morganfield, Owenton, Princeton, Russell Springs, Salem, Scottsville, Stanford, Versailles and Williamstown. For a detailed list, click here.
- Death Rates For Heart And Pneumonia Patients At Critical-access Hospitals Are Rising Nationally, Study Finds
Death rates are rising at rural critical-access hospitals for Medicare patients who have heart attacks, heart failure and pneumonia, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Hospitals designated as critical-access...
- Fiscal-cliff Deal Revives Program That Helps Rural Hospitals Dependent On Medicare; 200 In Nation, 10 In Kentucky
Even though most of the hospital industry wasn't happy with the fiscal-cliff deal that will only pay half the $30 billion needed to avoid a 27 percent Medicare fee cut for doctors, the deal gave about 200 rural hospitals, including 10 in Kentucky,...
- Lame-duck Congress Could Cut Funding For Critical Access Hospitals; More Than Two Dozen In Kentucky
Critical access hospitals, which in most states are rural facilities with fewer than 25 beds, may be under attack in the lame-duck session of Congress, former national rural-health director Wayne Myers writes for the Daily Yonder. President Obama's...
- Federal Cuts, Financial Instability And Competition Leave Many Rural Hospitals Fearing The Future
Many rural hospitals could be forced to close because of cuts to the Critical Access Program and the fact that, according to the National Rural Health Association, , 41 percent of critical-care hospitals are losing money, reports Jenny Gold of Kaiser...
- Small, Rural Hospitals With 'critical Access' Designation Have Poorer Patient Outcomes And Lower Quality Of Care, Study Finds
A study has found that small, rural hospitals with the "critical access" designation have poorer patient outcomes and lower quality of care. The analysis, performed by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, focused on nearly 1,300 critical...