National Rural Health Association Joins Effort to Repeal Wage Index ‘Manipulation’
The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) has officially joined with various interested parties in efforts to reverse the adverse national impact of Section 3141 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This section modified the "rural floor" adjustment for the Medicare reimbursement calculation of the "work component". The "rural floor" and all calculations for the "work component" are done on a budget neutral basis; that is, when one hospital receives higher reimbursements, others reimbursement is reduced. Prior to the passage of the Act, this calculation was done within each state. The Act modified this calculation to require budget neutrality on a national level. This modification has opened the door for manipulation that will benefit individual states at the expense of others. “NRHA is pleased to join this important coalition fighting to end the manipulation of the wage index,” explained Alan Morgan, CEO of NRHA. “Because, if no action is taken, hospitals around the nation could lose billions of dollars, and such a loss will have a disproportionate and potentially devastating impact on small, rural hospitals. It is an outrage that this blatant manipulation is allowed to continue." For further explanation of the situation and a copy of the press release announcing NRHA's support, click here.