“Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy year!” Bill Finerfrock said during his “Exploring Rural Health Policy Issues” webinar on Nov. 13th. The NOSORH-sponsored webinar was one of the daily webinars offered during the week-long celebration of National Rural Health Day 2012.

At the center of the presentation was a “Washington Update,” where Finerfrock gave a run-down on coming changes in House Committee memberships including Ways and Means, and Appropriations, and possible changes in Cabinet-level posts including Defense, State, Justice and Treasury. Finerfrock said that issues that were left unresolved prior to Congressional Adjournment include Bush Tax Cuts, Payroll Tax Cuts, the SGR “fix” (sustainable growth rate fix for Medicare), and Sequestration, which, combined, form what the press is calling the “fiscal cliff.” Finerfrock said he thinks Congress will do something to avoid the fiscal cliff. However, if they don’t, the consequences would include a 26.5 percent cut in physician fee schedules, which would have an adverse effect on rural health clinics. Sequestration would also cause a 7- 8 percent annual cut in affected non-defense programs. At this point, he said, there is nothing to do but wait and see. The NOSORH-sponsored webinar was one of the daily webinars offered during the week-long celebration of National Rural Health Day 2012.

For a viewable recording of Finerfrock’s full webinar, click here; for a copy of Finerfrock’s presentation during the webinar, click here.

Source: The Branch: An Update for State Offices of Rural Health and our Partners. December 2012. NOSORH.