Medicare

Current Projects

• A Closer Examination of Rural Hospital Bypass
  This project will estimate the rural hospital bypass rate using all-payer claims data for a set of states and compare patients based on the inpatient treatments and procedures received relative to those routinely provided by rural facilities.
  Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Health reform, Health services, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Private health insurance, Uninsured and underinsured
  
• Alternative Methods for Defining Rural Hospital Service Area Market
  Options for describing the population served by a rural hospital are limited; geopolitical areas such as counties are convenient, but ZIP-based methods may be more accurate. In this project, we will consider multiple options that tradeoff ease, accuracy, ability to capture trends, and availability.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare
  
• Availability, Care Practices, and Quality of Hospice Providers Serving Rural versus Urban Communities
  This project will examine differences in availability of hospice care in rural versus urban communities as well as provider-level quality and care practices by rural-urban status of hospices. Findings will highlight potential rural-urban disparities in hospice care that can be used to inform future Medicare policy.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Health services, Healthcare access, Hospice and palliative care, Medicare, Quality
  
• Changes in Rural Health Insurance Coverage, 2020-2023
  This project uses secondary data sources to characterize changes in health insurance coverage during the public health emergency (2020-2023) for rural and urban people according to demographic, employment, and geographic characteristics, and to describe how changes in federal policies impacted coverage. Researchers also assess the potential impact of maintaining more robust marketplace subsidies on rural and urban coverage rates once the "unwinding" of continuous Medicaid enrollment is complete.
  Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Health reform, Healthcare financing, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Private health insurance, Rural statistics and demographics, Uninsured and underinsured
  
• Comparing Utilization and Quality of Home Health Care Between Medicare Fee-for-Service and Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries by Rural-Urban Status
  This project examines differences in home health use and quality by enrollment in Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) versus Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Findings will include information on rural-urban and intra-rural variation in home health care to inform policies on access, payment, and quality for Medicare FFS and MA plans.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Allied health professionals, Health services, Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Home health, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Post-acute care, Quality
  
• Did Hospitals That Converted to Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) Avoid Closure?
  The goal of the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) is to preserve access to essential services for rural residents, and to decrease the likelihood of hospital closures; some worry that the REH offers an option for otherwise financially strong hospitals to shed services. This study will investigate whether hospitals that converted to an REH in 2023 and 2024 would have likely closed in the absence of the REH designation.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Rural Emergency Hospitals (REHs)
  
• Differences in Rural and Urban Hospital Cost Structures: Evidence and Implications
  The project will compare fixed-to-variable cost ratios in U.S. rural and urban hospitals. We hypothesize that rural hospitals will realize proportionally greater fixed costs than urban hospitals, suggesting important hospital payment system implications.
  Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Health reform, Healthcare financing, Medicare
  
• Evaluating the Variation in Rural and Urban Hospital Wages and Wage Index Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic
  The primary purpose of the wage index is to address the differences in labor costs that hospitals experience based on their geographical location.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Workforce
  
• Examining Post-Acute Care Utilization and Outcomes for Rural Medicare FFS and Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries
  This study will describe differences in post-acute care utilization and post-discharge outcomes between rural Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries and rural Medicare Advantage beneficiaries overall, by region of the country, and levels of rurality.
  Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Care management, Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Healthcare access, Home health, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Post-acute care
  
• Financial Consequences of Growth in the Number of Rural Referral Centers
  Since Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services amended its regulations to allow hospitals in urban areas to reclassify as rural, over 400 hospitals have obtained status as a Rural Referral Center. This project will estimate the costs to hospital Medicare payment and profitability.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare
  
• Health Care Use and Access Among Rural and Urban Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries
  This project will examine rural-urban differences in healthcare use and access to healthcare services among elderly Medicare enrollees using the 2011-2013 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. We also will identify the socioeconomic and health factors that may place rural seniors at risk for poor healthcare access.
  Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Medicare
  
• Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) Risk Scores: Designed to Predict Future Cost and Health Care Resource Use – Do They Also Accurately Reflect Differences in Health Status between Rural and Urban Beneficiaries?
  This CMS Hierarchical Condition Category (CMS-HCC) risk score study will investigate differences in underlying health between rural and urban populations using recent data and analyze which factors drive observed differences.
  Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA)
  
• Identifying Characteristics Associated With Rural and Urban Medicare Beneficiaries Bypassing Local Skilled Nursing Facilities for Post-Acute Care
  This project will compare how often rural versus urban beneficiaries receive post-acute care from skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) outside of their local communities, and which patient, provider, and community characteristics are associated with bypass of local SNFs, informing policies to support SNFs in rural communities.
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Healthcare access, Long-term care, Medicare, Post-acute care
  
• Long-term Implications of Declining Inpatient Revenue on Bed Surge Capacity and Emergency Preparedness
  Inpatient use and key health care services offered at rural hospitals have declined over the past decade. Has the quest for efficiency in hospitals led to a dangerously low surge capacity and ability to effectively handle public health emergencies?
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare
  
• Medicare Advantage and Financial, Hospital, and Community Characteristics of Rural Hospitals
  This project will compare financial, hospital, and community differences among rural hospitals located in areas with lower versus higher rates of Medicare Advantage penetration.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA)
  
• Prevalence of Opioid Prescribing, Diagnoses of Opioid Use Disorder, Treatment Patterns, and Costs Among Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
  Opioid use disorder (OUD) diagnoses among the aged and disabled are among the highest and fastest growing. This study uses the 2010-2017 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to examine opioid prescribing rates and explore risk factors associated with OUDs and associated treatment patterns and costs within rural and urban Medicare populations.
  Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Medicare, Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Substance use and treatment
  
• RHCs and CAHs Participating in SSP: Characteristics of the Providers and Communities
  This project describes characteristics of Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (SSP), and the communities they serve. Comparisons will be made to RHCs and CAHs not participating in the SSP.
  Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Healthcare financing, Medicare, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  
• Rural and Urban Sepsis Outcomes as a Measure of Health Care Quality: A Nationwide Comparative Analysis Using HCUP Data
  This study examines differences in sepsis prevalence, outcomes, costs, and treatment between rural and urban hospitals using the HCUP Nationwide Readmissions Database. It aims to inform policies related to access to timely, high-quality sepsis care and identify strategies to enhance healthcare outcomes across diverse hospital settings.
  Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Care management, Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Private health insurance, Quality, Social determinants of health
  
• Rural Implications of Increased Medicare Beneficiary Enrollment in ACOs and MA Plans
  This project will leverage Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services data showing the number of Medicare beneficiaries assigned to Accountable Care Organizations, in combination with enrollment in Medicare Advantage in rural counties, to describe implications for rural health care organizations.
  Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Health reform, Healthcare financing, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA)
  
• Rural-based Accountable Care Organizations Accepting Downside Risk
  The RUPRI Center will update its studies of rural provider participation in accountable care organizations, including differences between those who exit the program, those who remain, and those who enter. In particular, this project will address participation decisions made after a rule change in July 2019 that requires conversion to two-sided risk.
  Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Health reform, Hospitals and clinics, Legislation and regulation, Medicare
  
• Rural-Urban Differences in Medicare Advantage Plan Quality Scores
  This project updates previous RUPRI Center publications focused on rural-urban differences in access to, and enrollment in, Medicare Advantage plans with four- and five-star quality ratings.
  Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare financing, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA)
  
• Rural/Urban Differences in Forgoing Health Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic
  Several surveys conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that adults delayed or skipped healthcare services during the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines changes in healthcare utilization for primary and preventative care among rural and urban Medicare fee-for-service enrollees since the COVID-19 pandemic.
  Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Care management, Chronic diseases and conditions, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Diabetes, Health promotion and disease prevention, Health services, Medicare, Mental and behavioral health, Telehealth
  
• Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Penetration in Rural vs. Urban Healthcare Settings in the U.S.
  This study will include an analysis of 2018/2019 Medicare, Medicaid and Commercial claims to compare the penetration of Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) and its different components in rural compared to urban healthcare settings. Within the overarching analysis, the study team will examine the type of interventions conducted within the SBIRT framework stratified by provider type, healthcare setting, and rural and urban provider ZIP codes. Findings will be analyzed within the context of county-level substance use rates, historical enactment of state SBIRT billing codes, overdoses, and alcohol poisoning-based hospital admissions contrasting trends in SBIRT administration with a proxy for community need.
  Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Chronic diseases and conditions, Health promotion and disease prevention, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Mental and behavioral health, Private health insurance, Public health, Substance use and treatment
  
• Understanding Rural Health Clinic Services, Use, and Reimbursement
  This study describes the scope and intensity of services provided to Medicare beneficiaries by independent and provider-based Rural Health Clinics. It will also assess the adequacy of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' changes to the outpatient evaluation and management codes in 2021 compared to the 2021 per-visit reimbursement cap.
  Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Health services, Healthcare financing, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)
  
• Use of Home and Community Based Services by Medicare Beneficiaries
  Using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, we will examine rural-urban differences in the need for long term services and supports, rates of home and community-based services (HCBS) use, the use of different types of HCBS, and the impact of HCBS on subsequent use of emergent services such as hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
  Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Aging, Health services, Home health, Long-term care, Medicare
  
• Usual Source of Primary Care for Rural Medicare Beneficiaries Before and During COVID-19
  The global pandemic was highly disruptive to existing health care use patterns, potentially affecting rural America more than urban communities. This study will describe the usual sources of primary care (USC) for rural Medicare beneficiaries before and during COVID-19 to provide insight into how COVID-19 affected USC of Medicare beneficiaries.
  Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Topics: Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), Healthcare access, Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)