While many lawmakers, such as the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, are pushing for rural healthcare equality in the new legislation, including language to increase Medicare reimbursements for hospitals and physicians in these areas that will require difficult negotiation, according to the report.
Rural hospitals are struggling as a result of declining reimbursements. However, patient volumes are increasing as more patients flock to hospital emergency departments due to a decrease in the number of physicians practicing in the area, according to the report. The financially-struggling hospitals are also unable to fund renovations or expansion projects or to purchase new equipment.
Rural hospitals across the nation are also treating an increasing number of uninsured patients, and study from the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., found that hospitals in areas with inadequate numbers of physicians’ offices or clinics treated 33 percent more uninsured patients than those with adequate facilities, according to the report.
Read the Herald’s report about struggling rural hospitals.
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