Health care facilities participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs, 1987

This article presents current and recent historical data on the number of providers and suppliers of services certified to participate in the Medicare and/or Medicaid programs. Presented in Table 1 is a historical perspective for the years 1981-87. Presented in Tables 2 and 3 are regional and State data on the number of certified health facilities at the beginning of 1987. Selected highlights are as follows: • The number of Medicare certified hospitals classified as short stay peaked in 1982 and declined to 5,912 by the beginning of 1987. A factor that may have contributed to this decrease is the prospective payment system (PPS) that became effective on October 1, 1983. Certain short-stay hospitals were categorically excluded from PPS and were reclassified and assigned nonshort-stay provider numbers for reimbursement purposes. • Although the number of short-stay hospitals decreased, the number of certified beds continued to increase from 1981 to 1985 and has since declined to slightly more than 1 million. This number is still higher than 1981 levels. • The number of skilled nursing facilities increased steadily to 7,148 in January 1987, a 39-percent increase since 1981. There were 444,326 skilled nursing facility beds certified for Medicare participation during this period. a 14.5-percent average annual rate of change. One of the primary factors for this increase was the Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1980, which permitted the certification of proprietary home health agencies in States not having licensure laws. During the most recent Hospitals Total Short-stay Pyschiatric Other long-stay Facilities Skilled nursing facilities Home health agencies Independent laboratories Outpatient physical therapy and/or speech pathology Portable X-ray End stage renal disease facilities Rural health clinics Comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities 1 Ambulatory surgical centers 2 Hospices 3 Beds Total hospital beds Short-stay Psychiatric Other long-stay