Bill > HR3635

This bill, the Save Rural Hospitals Act of 2023, aims to ensure fairness in Medicare hospital payments by establishing a floor for the area wage index applied to certain hospitals. Specifically, it amends the Social Security Act to set a minimum area wage index of 0.85 for hospitals not located in frontier states (defined as states with a population density less than 6 people per square mile). To maintain budget neutrality, the bill also allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to set a maximum area wage index for these hospitals. This measure is intended to address the financial challenges faced by rural hospitals, which often struggle with lower wage levels compared to urban areas, by providing a more equitable payment structure.