Rural-Urban Issues in the Wage Index Adjustment for Prospective Payment in Skilled Nursing Facilities

This working paper discusses payment procedures for Medicare services in hospitals and Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF's) information on past hospital wage indexes. It presents rural health information on the Centers for Medicare, Medicaid Services hospital wage indexes, data on SNF's, hospital indexes in rural-urban areas, and metropolitan labor markets. The paper discusses potential discrepancies that can result from using two different wage variations. It includes tables, figures, and references.