FAH submitted a statement to the Senate Finance Committee for today’s hearing titled, “Rural Health Care: Supporting Lives and Improving Communities,” urging the committee to address managed care abuses and support shared priorities. In the letter, FAH emphasizes the importance of telehealth, financial sustainability, bolstering the health care workforce, and legislative action to maintain and improve rural health care services. 

Key recommendations from FAH include: 

• Making Medicare telehealth provisions permanent to ensure ongoing access to care.
• Stabilizing financial support for hospitals through adjustment payment programs like MDH and LVH.
• Opposing site neutral payment policies that could reduce Medicare payments to hospitals.
• Addressing the urgent need to solve the workforce shortage and burnout crisis in rural hospitals.

The letter also highlighted the negative impact of Medicare Advantage plans’ administrative practices, including excessive prior authorization denials, improper denials for lack of documentation, and payment request denials on rural hospitals. FAH urged lawmakers to address these issues to ensure rural hospitals can continue providing essential services. 

Read the statement here.