Rural Development Hospital Technical Assistance Program Act of 2025
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
This bill formally establishes (codifies) the Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program within the Department of Agriculture. The program provides training and technical support to help rural hospitals improve their finances, operations, and quality of care, with the ultimate goal of preventing hospital closures in rural America.
Who Benefits and How
Rural hospitals and health facilities are the primary beneficiaries. Eligible facilities include critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, community health centers, psychiatric hospitals, and sole community hospitals located in rural areas. They receive free technical assistance to:
- Identify and address facility needs (construction, telehealth, electronic health records)
- Develop financial and operational improvement plans
- Navigate and apply for USDA loan and grant programs
Rural communities benefit indirectly by having better access to local healthcare services that might otherwise close.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of Agriculture takes on the administrative responsibility of running the program, including conducting outreach, selecting participants, and submitting annual progress reports to Congress.
Taxpayers fund the program, which authorizes up to $2 million per year from fiscal years 2025 through 2029 ($10 million total over 5 years).
Key Provisions
- Defines eligible facilities broadly - includes hospitals, critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, community health centers, and rural emergency hospitals in rural areas
- Prioritizes USDA borrowers - hospitals that already have loans or grants from USDA rural services get priority access
- Considers vulnerability factors - selection criteria include financial vulnerability, facility age/condition, and whether the facility serves underserved areas
- Requires annual reporting - Secretary must report to Congress on program outcomes, including descriptions of each project and cost-effectiveness assessments
- Authorizes $2 million annually for fiscal years 2025-2029 to fund the program
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Codifies the Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program within the Department of Agriculture to provide technical assistance and training to eligible rural hospitals.
Key Policy Areas
Healthcare, Agriculture
Primary Purpose
Codifies the Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program within the Department of Agriculture to provide technical assistance and training to eligible rural hospitals.
Policy Domains
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Rounds (for himself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, …
Introduced in Senate
Impact analysis is available but no clear stakeholder effects identified. View clause-level analysis →
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Defined under section 343(a)(13)(A) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act.
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