The Role of CAH Status in Mitigating the Effects of New Prospective Payment Systems Under Medicare

This report examines rural hospitals potentially qualified as Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). It identifies facilities at financial risk due to the Balanced Budget Act that expands Medicare's Prospective Payment Systems (PPS) to non-acute settings. The report includes information on service delivery and financial characteristics of potential CAH's, benefits from conversion, and low-volume rural hospitals at risk due to the expansion of PPS to non-acute settings.