Since final yr, pressing care facilities in rural communities have been profiting from a federal program that offers rural hospitals more money for providers they supply to low-income sufferers who’ve Medicaid insurance coverage protection.
In some instances, these extra funds will help maintain hospitals out of the crimson and permit them to pay for extra prescribed drugs and medical provides. However states should first grant them a license to function as a rural emergency hospital.
That's the place Florida Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, mentioned he's keen to help.
Phil Sears/AP
/
FR170567 AP
“Via the brand new improved REH Medicare reimbursement fee, the aim is to make sure that hospitals in underserved rural areas stay open and entry to well being care continues,” Simon defined Thursday earlier than the state Senate Appropriations Committee.
Simon has a invoice (SB-644) that claims for amenities to be thought-about rural, they solely should have 100 beds or much less and be situated in an space the place the inhabitants doesn’t exceed 100 individuals per sq. mile.
Mary Mayhew is the president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Affiliation. She informed WFSU on Friday that whereas her group helps the laws, well being care employees want to know the dangers that include it.
“The intent was to provide rural hospitals another choice in the event that they bumped into monetary difficulties,” Mayhew mentioned.
In trade for larger Medicaid reimbursements, hospitals adopting the agricultural designation must forego inpatient providers. This may imply that hospitals might be pressured to look to a different reimbursement program when treating sufferers with life-threatening sicknesses or surgical procedures that will require intensive care later.
“Sufferers can’t keep greater than 24 hours. Medicare will present extra enhanced reimbursement for these hospitals that match that rural emergency hospital standing. So, it's not the reply for all rural hospitals. “It’s simply another choice that a hospital could need to take into account.”
The invoice additionally has some academic advantages. Included in Simon's bundle is a state-administered mortgage program to assist nursing college students in Florida pay for lessons and canopy licensing prices.