Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Bill would increase the payment-rate cap for rural health clinics.

A new bipartisan, Rural Health Caucus-supported bill, the Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act of 2007 (or the "R-HoPE Act"), proposes to improve Medicare and Medicaid payments to providers who care for seniors in rural and under-served areas.
 
The R-HoPE Act promises to shore up health care in rural states like New Mexico, reports the Gallup Independent. Among other provisions, the bill would:

• Reinstate the "hold harmless" provisions for rural hospitals with fewer than 100 beds;
• Provide aid to low-volume rural hospitals;
• Expand Medicare reimbursement eligibility to rural mental-health providers;
• Extend provisions in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 that equalize Medicare reimbursement levels among rural physicians and those in urban settings; and
• Increase the all-inclusive payment-rate cap for rural health clinics from $63 to $92 per patient.

Among the R-HoPE Act's co-sponsors are Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Pat Roberts (R-KS). The bill was renamed in honor of Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY), who passed away recently of cancer, according to
the Independent.