Medicare Enrollees Turn to Rural Hospitals for Outpatient Care

Rural Medicare beneficiaries are becoming more dependent on hospitals to access clinician care, even though rural hospital closures have been trending upward for years, a government advisory panel reported Monday.

In 2018, rural beneficiaries had 34% to 40% of their physician consultations and visits in hospitals, compared with 29% of urban beneficiaries, said Brian O’Donnell, a senior policy analyst at the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which advises Congress on Medicare policy.

But 16 rural hospitals closed in 2020, following a record 18 closures in 2019, according to the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North ...