Rural Health Care Viability Act of 1987

Rural Health Care Viability Act of 1987 - Amends part A (General Provisions) of title XI of the Social Security Act to require that whenever the Secretary of Health and Human Services proposes a regulation or promulgates a final version of a regulation under titles XVIII (Medicare), XIX (Medicaid), or part B (Peer Review) of title XI of the Act which will have a substantial impact on small rural hospitals, the Secretary make a regulatory impact analysis available to the public.

Sets aside ten percent of amounts expended by the Secretary on certain experiments and demonstration projects relating exclusively or substantially to rural health issues.

Amends title VII (Administration) of the Act to establish an Office of Rural Health Policy in the Department of Health and Human Services to: (1) advise the Secretary regarding the effects of changes in the Medicare and Medicaid programs on rural health care; (2) oversee compliance with provisions of this Act requiring regulatory impact analyses and rural health demonstration projects; (3) establish and maintain a clearinghouse for collecting and disseminating information on rural health care; (4) coordinate rural health care activities within the Department of Health and Human Services; and (5) provide the Department with information regarding the rural health care activities of other Federal departments and agencies.

Requires the Secretary to issue, within 120 days of this Act's enactment, clear and explicit implementing instructions which set forth the manner in which a sole community hospital may apply for a Medicare payment adjustment when its patient volume declines by more than five percent due to circumstances beyond its control. Amends the Medicare program to make the payment adjustment applicable to sole community hospitals experiencing such a decline in patient volume in a cost reporting period prior to October 1, 1990. (Extended from October 1, 1988.) Allows a sole community hospital to qualify for such an adjustment without regard to the formula by which its Medicare payments are determined.

Directs the Prospective Payment Assessment Commission to: (1) evaluate a specified study conducted by the Secretary regarding the feasibility and impact of eliminating or phasing out separate urban and rural prospective payment rates; and (2) report its conclusions and recommendations to the Congress by March 1, 1988.

Requires the Secretary to: (1) develop a data base of the operating costs of inpatient hospital services for a representative sample of hospitals for use in determining appropriate adjustments to the Medicare prospective payment system and analyzing legislative, regulatory, and budgetary changes; and (2) report to the Congress on such data base by October 1, 1988.

Directs the Secretary to determine and announce, within 120 days of this Act's enactment, the payment limit applicable to services furnished by independent rural health clinics during cost reporting periods which begin in 1988. Increases such payment limit to $46 if the Secretary fails to act within 120 days. Requires that, beginning in 1988, the Secretary announce the payment limit for the following calendar year by September 30th of each year.

Amends part B (Peer Review) of title IX of the Act to require that at least 50 percent of peer review organization reviews of rural hospitals having fewer than 50 beds be conducted on the hospital's premises.