NRHA marches for rural hospitals
The National Rural Health Association and representatives from over 200 hospitals and providers from across the country met in Washington this week to protect two critical Medicare programs that are set to expire. We took our message to Capitol Hill: if congressional action is not taken by Oct. 1, millions of dollars in reimbursements to Medicare Dependent Hospitals (MDHs) and Low Volume Hospitals (LVHs) will be lost, hospital services will be reduced, and rural hospital doors will close. During the March for Rural Hospitals, hospital and system administrators shared stories of the devastating impact the expiration of the MDH program and the LVH program would have on their facilities. The loss of the programs may cause layoffs and reduced wages, hospital closures and a devastating impact to the local economy. Alabama rural hospitals, for example, will lose $19.4 million and hospitals will close if the LVH adjustment expires. MDHs are small rural facilities that serve a high percentage of Medicare patients. Expiration will mean over 200 MDHs will lose millions of dollars, causing many facilities to reduce services, or worse, close doors, resulting in a loss of access to health care for rural seniors across the nation. Additionally, hundreds more rural facilities will be severely harmed due to the Oct. 1 expiration of LVHs. The rural “low-volume” adjustment in this program is a Medicare payment for rural facilities who incur higher incremental costs due to a low-volume of Medicare patients. The loss of such funding will hurt rural patients, forcing rural hospitals to limit critical services or close facilities. NRHA supports S. 2620 and H.R. 5943, the Rural Hospital Access Act of 2012. This legislation will extend MDH and LVH provisions. For more information on the MDH and LVH designations click here.