The Politics of Waste

The program was created by Congress in 1997, after a wave of rural hospitals closures, to make sure Americans in isolated areas would still have access to health care. Hospitals with 25 or fewer beds that are at least 35 miles away from another facility, or 15 miles across secondary roads, qualify. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission estimates that in 2003, these hospitals were paid an average of $850,000 more than they would have been without the CAH designation.

But there was also a loophole: States could waive the distance requirement — and they did. Today more than 1,300 U.S. hospitals — nearly one in four acute care facilities – are designated as critical access.

Source: NPR’s Health Blog

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