With the Medicare Modernization Act’s protections accorded to rural providers set to expire this year or next, the National Rural Health Association endorsed legislation that would extend them through 2011. The Rural Health Provider Payment Extension Act (H.R. 5118) would sustain the following: outpatient prospective payment system hold-harmless treatment for sole community hospitals and small rural hospitals; Medicare incentive payment program for physicians practicing in physician-scarcity areas; Medicare 2% bonus payment for ambulance trips; Medicare work geographic adjustment 1.0 floor for rural physician payments; reasonable cost payment for rural hospital clinical lab tests (performed as part of outpatient services); and 5% add-on payment for home health services provided in rural areas.
“There is so much more that needs to be done to improve access to health care in rural America,” said Alan Morgan, NRHA’s CEO. “But first we must make sure we do not lose ground, and that is why it is so important to extend the assistance provided in the MMA.”
