The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) Data Book provides information on national health care and Medicare spending as well as Medicare beneficiary demographics, dual-eligible beneficiaries, quality of care in the Medicare program, and hospital closures. Among the key findings: about 91 percent of rural hospitals were paid through the Critical Access Hospital, Rural Referral Center, or Sole Community Hospital provisions or the Medicare Dependent Hospital program in 2016. Collectively, these four types of hospitals accounted for 90 percent of all rural Medicare discharges.
