A voice for
essential rural
hospitals

Coalition Update

Urge Congress to Expand Allowable Costs

The CARE Act is currently under consideration in the House and needs your support! Has your Member of Congress signed on to co-sponsor the Critical Access and Rural Equity (CARE) Act? Click here to find out. If your Member has not yet signed on to...

Rural Hospital in Iowa Sues Medicaid Insurers for Underpayments

November 02, 2018

Virginia Gay Hospital (VGH), a critical-access hospital in Vinton, Iowa, has a filed a lawsuit against three private insurance companies that oversee the Iowa’s Medicaid program. This is part of the privatization of Medicaid that was launched in Iowa in April 2016. The lawsuit alleges...

Ballot Initiative to Expand Medicaid in Nebraska met with Skepticism

October 25, 2018

With Medicaid expansion on the ballot in this November’s midterm election, some rural hospitals have tempered their expectations of how it would increase their margins. The Nebraska Hospital Association, which has pushed expansion for years, indicated that rural providers might not fully benefit if enough...

Rural Hospital Closures Increased with Falling Inpatient Use

October 10, 2018

The GAO found that most rural hospital closures were the result of financial distress. A 2016 study found that rural hospitals that closed from 2010-2014 had a medial operating margin of -7.41%. The GAO also found a disproportionately higher number of closures among rural hospitals...

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