November 7, 2009

Rural Health

Senator Wyden believes that health reform must guarantee access to health care for rural communities. Rural Oregon is facing a shortage of primary care and specialty providers that forces too many Oregonians to travel hours and hours to get to a hospital, see a doctor, or find a health clinic.

In January 2009, Senator Wyden introduced, with Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), the Critical Access Hospital Flexibility Act, S. 307 to help rural hospitals serve patients without losing the funding they need to survive.

Currently, there are nearly 1,300 hospitals across the United States in 47 states that operate under a critical access hospital designation, 25 of which are in Oregon. The Medicare program pays critical access hospitals based on what are called "reasonable costs" to help hospitals maintain their sound financial footing. In order to obtain this designation, hospitals must meet certain requirements, such as being located more than 35 miles from any other hospital, providing 24-hour emergency care services, and having no more than 25 occupied beds per day.

The problem comes when the hospital has a need for more than 25 beds per day to be occupied with patients needing care. Under current law, critical access hospitals either have to risk their financial viability or their patients' health when a 26th patient walks in their door. Wyden feels strongly that people in rural areas shouldn't have to jump through unnecessary hoops to see a doctor any more than doctors should be pressured to turn patients away.

The Wyden-Crapo bill gives rural hospitals the flexibility they need to serve their communities. It would allow designated hospitals to keep that 26th patient -- avoiding unnecessary transportation costs and risks to patient health. Hospitals would have the flexibility of choosing either a 25-patient bed daily maximum or a 20-patient bed yearly average in order to meet Medicare's maximum occupied bed requirements. The bill would also exempt beds occupied by military veterans from the count.

This bill is endorsed by the National Rural Health Association, Providence Health & Services, Catholic Health Initiative, Oregon Association of Hospital and Health Systems (OAHHS), the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

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