Recap: Medicare Failing Small Rural Hospitals

Rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds have seen total Medicare margins decline precipitously, falling to an average of negative 5.4 percent in 1999.

While special reimbursement is available to certain rural hospitals today, it is limited. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) observed in its June, 2002 Report to Congress that the current Medicare prospective payment DRG system is simply no

Rural hospitals with fewer than 50 beds have seen total Medicare margins decline precipitously, falling to an average of negative 5.4 percent in 1999.