The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met today to discuss preserving access to emergency care in rural America. Slides will be available in the next few days on the MedPAC
website.
The Commissioners discussed two options for future care in rural – a 24/7 emergency department and primary care outpatient services and a primary care clinic (12 hours/day) and ambulance (24/7). Both of these programs would be optional.
The National Rural Health Association is pleased that the Commission is recognizing that access to care in rural communities is an ever increasing problem. However, NRHA is concerned that MedPAC failed to understand why rural hospitals are closing and without that understanding does nothing to stop the bleeding caused by the plethora of Medicare cuts. Eight rural hospitals have already closed this year with a total of 71 rural hospitals closing since 2010. Even more concerning is that 673 rural hospitals are at risk of closure, meaning sustained Medicare cuts threaten the financial viability of 1 in 3 rural hospitals.
While NRHA is supportive of the concepts of creating a new provider type for rural communities we are concerned that MedPAC does not appear to be focused on the important issue of sustainability of a new provider type. Any new model must ensure that the grants are sufficient to keep these facilities open in the long run. MedPAC’s recommendations appeared to focus on cost neutrality and making the grants just a new way to allocate the same money. However, by MedPACs own admission, this money has not been enough to keep rural hospitals from closing.
Continued cuts in hospital payments have taken their toll on rural hospitals. Already, medical deserts are appearing across rural America, leaving many of our nation’s most vulnerable populations without timely access to care. NRHA will continue to work with Congress and the Administration to ensure health care in rural America is maintained.
Register today for NRHA’s Annual Rural Health Conference and the new Rural Hospital Innovation Summit next month in Minneapolis to learn more about how to preserve access to care in rural America.