?Critical Access Hospital? Status Could Be Removed
Saturday, August 17th, 2013 -- 7:08 AM
A proposal in a report released Thursday would have staggering implications for rural health care across the country and negatively impact almost every rural hospital and community in Wisconsin.?What a federal agency is proposing is nothing short of astounding,? said Wisconsin Hospital Association President Steve Brenton, referring to a report released by the federal Department of Health & Human Services? Office of Inspector General. ?These recommendations would decimate 20 years of health care stability and access to care for Medicare beneficiaries in rural communities across America.?
In its report, the OIG recommends removing a Medicare payment status known as ?Critical Access Hospital? for hospitals that do not meet certain distance requirements. The recommendation disregards the fact that each of the impacted hospitals was deemed a necessary provider by their respective states.
Since that time the CAH program has operated efficiently, represents less than five percent of Medicare?s total hospital budget, and has provided more than 60 million rural Medicare beneficiaries in the U.S. with access to health care that is close to home.
Two hospital in our area of would also suffer under this proposal including Memorial Medical Center here in Neillsville and Black River Memorial Hospital in Black River Falls.
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