Medicare beneficiaries paid 47% of OP costs at critical access hospitals

According to a study by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, beneficiaries paid an average of 47% of outpatient (OP) costs at critical access hospitals:

Average percentage of costs	Number of beneficiaries	Percentage of beneficiaries*
>75%	146,480	8%
>50% and < (or equal to) 75%	534,765	31%
>25% and < (or equal to) 50%	1,011,344	58%
< (or equal to) 25%	40,969	2%
Overall Average: 47%	1,733,588	100%

Note: * This column does not sum up to 100% due to rounding of numbers. Data is from 2012 (Table 1). The Critical Access Hospital (CAH) certification was created to ensure that rural beneficiaries would have access to hospital services. Medicare reimburses CAHs at 101 percent of their "reasonable costs,"rather than at the predetermined rates.


Source: OIG analysis of NCH Outpatient Files