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The crucial community impact of rural hospital closures

By Erin Mahn Zumbrun posted 07-20-2016 12:28 PM

  

Earlier this month, Pioneer Community Hospital of Scott in Oneida, Tenn. closed its doors, becoming the 76th rural hospital to close since 2010.

Even more concerning are the 673 additional vulnerable rural hospitals, which equate to 1/3 of all rural hospitals in the U.S., at risk of closure. These closures are a result of continued Medicare cuts in hospital payments. Rural hospitals are especially critical because the 62 million Americans who call rural America home are older, sicker, and poorer than their urban counterparts. These hospital closures have devastated rural communities like Oneida, and left residents with inadequate access to essential health care services.

Thankfully, Pioneer Community Hospital of Scott is planning on keeping their ER open for the time being, but many other rural hospitals have not been so lucky.

In 2014, Lower Oconee Community Hospital in Glenwood, Ga., ceased all services, which left residents without any local access to health care and 125 hospital employees without jobs. The hospital was the largest employer in the area, so the closure caused economic distress for the whole community. A local bank has since closed, as well as the area’s only restaurant. There is not another hospital within the three surrounding counties, leaving Glenwood residents dangerously isolated when urgent medical needs arise such as a heart attack, stroke, or car accident.

And, in 2015, Bowie Memorial Hospital in rural Texas closed its doors after 50 years. The tight-knit community of Bowie was heartbroken when their hospital closed, and many of the town’s 5,000 residents had to move away to areas with local access to health care.

Unfortunately, these stories are echoed across rural America as communities are plagued by the rural hospital closures. Rural communities like Oneida, Glenwood, and Bowie are just a few examples of the many rural communities and local economies devastated by hospital closures. Medical deserts are rapidly appearing across the country, leaving many of our nation’s most vulnerable populations without timely access to care.

The solution is legislation. NRHA urges members of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 3225, the Save Rural Hospitals Act, introduced by Reps. Sam Graves (R-MO) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA) and the Senate to introduce a companion bill. The Save Rural Hospitals Act will stop the flood of rural hospital closures and provide needed access to care for rural Americans. The bill will stabilize rural hospitals by reversing cuts that are devastating rural hospitals including “bad debt” reimbursement cuts, permanently extending current Low-Volume and Medicare Dependent Hospital payment levels, and eliminating Medicare and Medicaid DSH payment reductions.

The bill will provide regulatory relief by eliminating the CAH 96-Hour condition of payment, rebasing the supervision requirements for outpatient therapy services at CAHs and rural PPS facilities, and modifying the 2-Midnight Rule and RAC audit and appeals process. The bill also looks to the future to create an innovative delivery model that will ensure emergency access to care and allow hospitals the choice to offer outpatient care that meets the health needs of their rural community with a payment structure that will allow these hospitals to remain open and serving their communities.

NRHA urges members of Congress to save rural hospitals and support this critical bill. You too can help protect vulnerable rural facilities and communities by asking your representative to support the Save Rural Hospitals Act.

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