- 13 Hospitals Join CMS' s Rural Pay Experiment Modern Healthcare by Virgil Dickson — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday added more hospitals to a program that industry executives say has been key to ensuring access to care in underserved communities. All in all, 13 additional hospitals will participate in the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program, which reimburses hospitals for the actual cost of care for inpatient services provided to Medicare beneficiaries rather than standard Medicare rates. Medicare typically pays as little as 80 percent of inpatient services costs. The program started in 2014 and was extended last year under the 21st Century Cures Act for an additional five years.