New Congressional caucus works to bolster rural hospitals; addressing payment challenges is part of legislation

Congressional Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus logo
via The Daily Yonder

Many rural hospitals have closed due to financial shortfalls, and still others struggle to remain open. Congress is working to address these challenges with a new caucus that "hopes to help rural hospitals stay open and increase the rural health workforce," reports Liz Carey for The Daily Yonder. "Earlier this year, U.S. Representatives Jill Tokuda (D-Hawaii) and Diane Harshbarger (R-West Virginia) formed the Congressional Rural Health Caucus with 47 members. The group's goal is to help inform members of Congress about rural health issues and allow them to hear directly from patients, healthcare providers and health advocates."

The caucus aims to address uniquely rural payment issues, and members have already proposed the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act (H.R. 6430), which would "extend both the Medicare-dependent hospital program and the Medicare low-volume hospital payments program for five years," Carey explains. "The legislation also requires the General Accountability Office to report on rural hospital classifications to ensure that those designations are bolstering rural health care."

The American Hospital Association supports the act. In a Nov. 27 letter, "the AHA said the legislation will help struggling rural hospitals already experiencing higher percentages of patients on Medicare," Carey reports. "The AHA said rural hospitals are more 'financially fragile' and 'more dependent on Medicare revenue' because of the high rate of people who are on Medicare, the federal health insurance that covers people 65 and older."

The ARCH Act would also "extend the low-volume hospital Medicare adjustment, which reimburses providers more for their services. Congress originally established the low-volume program in 2005 to help isolated, rural hospitals with a low number of patients," Carey writes. "According to the AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had previously so narrowly defined the eligibility criteria that only two or three hospitals across the country qualified for the help each year."

The legislation is also supported by the National Rural Health Association. Carey reports, "While the programs come before Congress every five years, passing the legislation is critical, Carrie Cochran-McClain, chief policy officer with the NRHA, said." She told Carey: "Now is not the time to let lifeline programs lapse. Reauthorization is critical to ensuring stability for rural health safety net hospitals."