All 13 members of the Virginia Congressional delegation sent a letter to VA Secretary David Shulkin over concerns about the level of VA’s late payments to hospitals participating in the VA Choice Program. The VA Choice Program was created in 2014 to better enable veterans to seek care...
Providers in Presque Isle, ME, spoke with WAGM about the decrease in debt they have seen since the enaction of the Affordable Care Act. With the current conversations around repeal and replace of the affordable care act, cuts to Medicaid could reverse the progress smaller,...
The National Rural Health Resource Center published a guide to help critical access hospitals and rural health clinics develop a Sliding Fee Scale Discount Program. The guide is also supposed to help CAHs and RHCs understand how the sliding fee scale discount programs “relate to...
The Hartford Courant reports that those living in rural connecticut face the most difficulty with transportation to adequate health care. Per National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data, "Connecticut’s rural residents die at higher rates than their city and suburban counterparts and a large percentage...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced they are delaying updates to the Hospital Quality Star Program. Updates were set to be released in October, but CMS has decided to continue examining the program. Rural hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals have been disproportionately disadvantaged...
The Huffington Post details the residual effects of hospital closures on rural communities in Georgia and analyzes the vulnerability of hospitals throughout all of the United States. Since 2010, 82 rural hospitals have closed, 28 of which are Critical Access Hospitals. Rural hospital closures have been...
Grantmakers in Aging, GIA, published a report on the impacts of the opioid crisis on older adults in rural communities. The report found that though the older adults may not be suffering themselves from opioid addiction, they may suffer from a lack of resources due...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the following press release on September 20, 2017. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Innovation Center New Direction September 20, 2017 Contact: CMS Media Relations (202) 690-6145 | CMS Media Inquiries Today, the CMS Innovation Center (Innovation Center) issued an informal...
Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are the latest leaders in Washington to propose ACA repeal and replace legislation before October. Here’s the bottom line on the Senate’s latest repeal and replace bill: • All Democrats will vote no: 48 votes • Most Republicans will vote...
Another Critical Access Hospital closed this week, leaving Patrick County, Virginia, with no hospital. According to the University of North Carolina's Cecil G. Sheps Center, 81 rural hospitals have already closed since 2010. "Policy uncertainty in Washington has created fragile times for health care companies," says the...