Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley has taken action to ensure the new Rural Emergency Hospital Medicare designation is implemented in a timely fashion.
Grassley ? along with Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota ? have called on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, to prioritize a stakeholder-driven implementation of the new and voluntary REH payment designation.
During his weekly conference call with farm reporters Tuesday morning, Senator Grassley said the REH designation offers the flexibility to support rural hospitals that can no longer support inpatient services while maintaining services that better align with the specific needs of their patient population including 24/7 emergency care, outpatient care, ambulance services, and more.
?We just want them to get their regulations out so hospitals can decide if they want to give up their residency beds and maintain other things so that we maintain help services in rural America,? said Grassley. ?It?s just getting the Rural Emergency Hospital program up and running. They can?t do that until they get the regulations written.?
?Implementation of the program,? Grassley continued, ?has to have input from stakeholders. That?s really key. Our letter emphasizes that as well.?
In the letter, the senators wrote: ?It is important that federal regulations and guidance adequately consider the needs of rural providers. This will ensure REH is a viable solution for rural hospitals giving rural communities the quality of life they deserve.?
The policy creates a new, voluntary Medicare payment designation that allows either a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) or a small, rural hospital with less than 50 beds to convert to an REH. Grassley says the goal is to preserve beneficiary access to emergency medical care in rural areas that can no longer support a fully operational inpatient hospital.
The American Hospital Association applauded REH passage saying, ?Senator Grassley?s Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) legislation, which the AHA has advocated for, would allow rural hospitals to continue to serve the health care needs of their communities by providing emergency and observation services without the provision of inpatient services.?
The full letter can be found here.
