Redesigning the Medicare Program: An Opportunity to Improve Rural Health Care Systems?

View Draft Report The enactment of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA) changed dramatically the context for discussions of Medicare policy. Policy discussions since the BBA have sharpened two major pathways for dialogue/debate: appropriate and equitable payment for services, either through traditional Medicare fee-for-service payments or through Medicare+Choice monthly premiums; and appropriate and necessary …