Bill > S502

This bill aims to help rural hospitals by modifying Medicare regulations to provide more flexibility in designating critical access hospitals (CAHs), which are small facilities in rural areas that provide essential healthcare services. Specifically, the bill allows states to certify certain hospitals as CAHs if they meet specific criteria, such as being located in areas with high poverty rates or healthcare professional shortages, having negative operating margins, and committing to expanding or adding service lines that are in high demand locally. The bill limits the total number of new CAH designations to 120 nationwide, with no more than 5 per state, and these designations will be available for 9 years. Hospitals seeking this designation must submit detailed plans about their financial sustainability and proposed new services, and they will be required to submit annual reports on their service expansions. The bill also mandates two key studies: one by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to assess the impact of these new CAH designations, and another by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to study payment systems for rural hospitals. After 9 years, hospitals designated under this act will need to transition to a different payment model, which could be a new model recommended by MedPAC, their previous payment model, or a rural emergency hospital payment model.

Budget and Finance

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/502/all-info