What is CMS doing to help rural communities?
This report emphasizes CMS’s commitment to working with rural communities to address barriers and build on existing advancements to achieve optimal outcomes for all rural Americans.
What is the updated rural health and wellbeing report?
CMS released an updated report that highlights the activities and accomplishments that CMS has made in improving the health and wellbeing of individuals living and working in rural, frontier, and tribal communities in fiscal year 2021.
What does National Rural Health Day mean to you?
Throughout the month of November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) is recognizing National Rural Health Day, November 18, and highlighting the unique health needs of rural communities.
What are the barriers to health care in rural areas?
People who live in America’s rural areas face unique barriers to health care – including longer travel distances to receive care, a shortage of health care providers, lack of broadband internet access, etc. These can contribute to worse health outcomes for this population.
What is considered rural for Medicare?
For our trend analyses of Medicare special payments for rural areas, we defined rural locations at the county level, and all counties outside of a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the Office of Management and Budget, were considered to be rural (Farley et al., 2002).
Do rural areas have less access to healthcare?
According to Access to Care: Populations in Counties with No FQHC, RHC, or Acute Care Hospital, rural populations have more limited access to primary care physicians than residents of urban areas, and are older, sicker, and poorer than urban counterparts.
Why is rural healthcare an issue?
Less access to health care. For example, clinics and hospitals may be far away. Higher rates of certain substance use, such as cigarette smoking and opioid and methamphetamine misuse. Higher rates of chronic health problems such as high blood pressure and obesity.
How many rural Americans are on Medicaid?
Nearly 14 million Medicaid enrollees live in rural areas, representing 17 percent of all Medicaid beneficiaries (CMS 2020b).
Why are there so few doctors in rural America?
PROVIDER SHORTAGES IN RURAL AMERICA This problem stems from 2 characteristics of the health care system: the many Americans without health care insurance and the tendency of health care professionals to locate and practice in relatively affluent urban and suburban areas.
Why is the health service not good in rural areas?
People in rural areas generally have less access to healthcare than their urban counterparts. Fewer medical practitioners, mental health programs, and healthcare facilities in these areas often mean less preventative care and longer response times in emergencies.
Why do rural areas have less hospitals?
Scores of hospitals serving rural areas have closed over the past decade, for a variety of reasons, including low patient volume, workforce shortages, budget cuts and a broader movement to outpatient care.
Is living in a rural area healthy?
They have lower cancer death rates, experience less stress, suffer less respiratory disease and report a greater “sense of community belonging,” it added. Among the health challenges faced by those who live in rural areas is that their remoteness often requires them to travel longer distances to obtain care.
What is the reason for having few hospitals in rural areas?
Rural residents do not trust hospitals, preferring to receive care from neighbors and friends. Although 75% of U.S. counties are classified as rural, they contain only 20% of the U.S. population. The population density is too low to support a large hospital.
When is Rural Health Day?
Throughout the month of November, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) is recognizing National Rural Health Day, November 18, and highlighting the unique health needs of rural communities.
What percentage of the population lives in rural areas?
Despite comprising the vast majority of the land area in the U.S., rural areas only contain about 19% of the U.S. population (or approximately 60 million people). People who live in America’s rural areas face unique barriers to health care – including longer travel distances to receive care, a shortage of health care providers, lack of broadband internet access, etc. These can contribute to worse health outcomes for this population. During November, we’re placing a spotlight on the work being done within CMS OMH and across all federal agencies to help address these disparities.
What is the CMS rethinking?
CMS is rethinking Rural Health. Our goal at CMS is to develop programs and policies that ensure rural Americans have access to high quality care, support rural providers and not disadvantage them, address the unique economics of providing health care in rural America, and reduce unnecessary burdens in a stretched system to advance our commitment to improving health outcomes for Americans living in rural areas. Rethinking Rural Health is a vital part of CMS's push to transform the health care delivery system to a model that delivers high quality, affordable, and accessible health care for every American.
Why is it important to develop rural health care?
The authors suggest the importance of developing policies to incentivize the health care workforce to practice in rural areas. For example, loan repayment or forgiveness programs may attract needed health care professionals to areas of shortages. Also, the federal government could consider changing Medicare Advantage network adequacy standards for rural areas to make sure that there are enough providers included. Finally, offering a rural payment add-on for Medicare Advantage plans that operate in rural areas may improve access to high-quality Medicare Advantage plans among rural enrollees.
Why do people switch from Medicare Advantage to Traditional Medicare?
Among those requiring more expensive services, rural enrollees were about twice as likely to switch from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare as nonrural enrollees (16.8% versus 8.3%), suggesting that limited provider options in rural areas were a major factor leading consumers to change their coverage plan.
What is the incentive for Medicare Advantage plans?
This creates incentive for Medicare Advantage plans to implement cost-saving measures, such as programs to keep their enrollees healthy, implement networks and require prior authorization restrictions to care.
What is Medicare Advantage?
Unlike traditional Medicare, which is administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Medicare Advantage is operated by private companies approved by the government. Both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage include hospital (Part A) and medical (Part B) insurance.
Who is the lead author of the study "It's not that rural patients were sicker than nonrural?
said lead author Sungchul Park, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health. "It's not that rural patients were sicker than nonrural patients, they might just have a much tougher time than their counterparts did when it came to finding an approved medical provider.".
Can Medicare Advantage be changed to rural areas?
Also, the federal government could consider changing Medicare Advantage network adequacy standards for rural areas to make sure that there are enough providers included . Finally, offering a rural payment add-on for Medicare Advantage plans that operate in rural areas may improve access to high-quality Medicare Advantage plans among rural enrollees.
What does it mean to live in a city for Medicare?
Living in the city can mean having a wider variety of options when selecting your Medicare plan. However, in rural areas where the population is more spread out, you might not have the same healthcare options.
Who can help you make an assessment for Medicare?
A qualified Medicare insurance agent can help you make that assessment. Whichever direction you decide to go, get all the facts first, and consider what your healthcare needs may be in the future. The information provided here is not investment, tax or financial advice.
What happens if you go out of network for Medicare?
If you went out of network for care, the bill could be significantly higher. In cities, this typically is not as big of an issue, but in rural areas that offer fewer choices, you could struggle to keep all your care within the Medicare Advantage plan’s network.
Does Medicare Advantage include prescription drug coverage?
The appeal of Medicare Advantage plans is they often include prescription drug coverage, which would need to be purchased separately as a standalone Part D for those keeping traditional Medicare Parts A and B.
Is Medicare Advantage better than Medigap?
Even though Medicare Advantage plans may look more appealing, if the providers you need are not in your area, your benefits could go unused, and you could end up paying more. In that case, traditional Medicare Part A and B may work better for you along with a Medigap supplement plan.
Can Medicare Advantage plan be outside of urban areas?
With access to care being a top priority for medical insurance, along with price, the logistical challenges of having a Medicare Advantage plan outside an urban area can outweigh its additional benefits.
Do rural areas have the same healthcare options?
However, in rural areas where the population is more spread out, you might not have the same healthcare options. If you live in an urban center, more medical professionals and more competition could also mean more options when it comes to Medicare Advantage plans.