To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the treatment of certain hospitals as critical access hospitals under the Medicare program.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill creates an exemption allowing certain rural hospitals that were previously designated as Critical Access Hospitals (before 2002) to maintain CAH status despite not meeting the 35-mile location requirement, if they were. It relies on exemptions and definition changes. The main policy areas are Healthcare.
Who Benefits and How
Rural hospitals designated as CAH before January 1, 2002, that recently lost certification due to location requirements and were sole providers in their county could gain revenue opportunities and Rural communities served by these sole-provider hospitals could face reduced risk.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would take on compliance duties.
Key Provisions
- Creates an exemption allowing certain rural hospitals that were previously designated as Critical Access Hospitals (before 2002) to maintain CAH status despite not meeting the 35-mile location requirement, if they were...
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
The bill creates an exemption allowing certain rural hospitals that were previously designated as Critical Access Hospitals (before 2002) to maintain CAH status despite not meeting the 35-mile location requirement, if they were.
Key Policy Areas
Healthcare
Primary Purpose
The bill creates an exemption allowing certain rural hospitals that were previously designated as Critical Access Hospitals (before 2002) to maintain CAH status despite not meeting the 35-mile location requirement, if they were.
Policy Domains
Rural Hospital Fairness Act
Identified Gains
- Rural hospitals designated as CAH before January 1, 2002, that recently lost certification due to location requirements and were sole providers in their county
- Rural communities served by these sole-provider hospitals
Identified Costs
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. LaMalfa introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Rural hospitals designated as CAH before January 1, 2002, that recently lost certification due to location requirements and were sole providers in their county
Rural communities served by these sole-provider hospitals
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_state"
- → State government health agencies responsible for CAH designation
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A rural hospital designation under Medicare that provides special reimbursement and regulatory flexibility, originally established under Section 1820 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i-4)
A facility that: (i) was designated as a critical access hospital before January 1, 2002; (ii) as of December 31, 2024, was certified by the Secretary as a critical access hospital; and (iii) as of the date notified of loss of certification, was located in a county with no other hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital
The statutory requirement that critical access hospitals must be located more than 35 miles from another hospital (or be certified by the State as a necessary provider)
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology