House Bill Would Boost Payments to Rural Hospitals

Tags: Cathy McMorris Rodgers | House bill | Mike Thompson | rural hospital | rural hospital payment

House Reps. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) have proposed a bill that would increase payments to rural hospitals that take a disproportionate share of Medicare and Medicaid patients, according to a news release from the office of Rep. Thompson.

Ms. McMorris Rodgers said roughly 25 percent of the country's population — 75 million people — live in rural areas, but only 10 percent of physicians practice in those areas.

In addition to increasing Medicare and Medicaid payments for rural hospitals, HR 3859 — or the Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act of 2012 — would boost payments for lab services, continue geographic reclassification for certain hospitals in sparsely populated states and extend expiring Medicare incentive payments for rural physicians and other providers.

Related Articles on Rural Hospital Payments:

MedPAC: Medicare Payments Adequate for Rural Hospitals

Because Good Isn't Good Enough: How Dr. Michael Williams Turned Around Hill Country Memorial Hospital

MedPAC Evaluates Payments for Rural Providers

© Copyright ASC COMMUNICATIONS 2012. Interested in LINKING to or REPRINTING this content? View our policies by clicking here.