Bill > HR4250

This bill, known as the "Save our Lone Emergency Services Act" (SOLES Act), amends the Social Security Act to provide additional financial support for sole community hospitals located in Alaska and Hawaii under the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS). Specifically, if the Secretary of Health and Human Services determines that a sole community hospital in these states is receiving less than 94% of its reasonable costs for outpatient department (OPD) services, the hospital will receive an additional payment to make up the difference. These supplemental payments will be made without considering budget neutrality requirements, meaning they won't be offset by reductions elsewhere in the payment system. The bill also ensures that these additional payments do not impact patient copayment amounts. The Secretary is required to develop implementing regulations within a specified timeframe, with the new payment provisions to take effect on the first January 1 following the bill's enactment. The goal is to help maintain healthcare access in rural and geographically isolated communities in Alaska and Hawaii by providing financial stability to their sole community hospitals.

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https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4250/all-info