HYDE-SMITH REINTRODUCES BILL TO RESTORE EMERGENCY CARE SERVICES AT RURAL HOSPITALS
‘Rural Health Sustainability Act’ Would Make More At-Risk or Closed Rural Hospitals Eligible for CMS Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today reintroduced her legislation to give more at-risk or closed rural hospitals an opportunity to reestablish or maintain emergency outpatient hospital services.
The Rural Health Sustainability Act (S1800), which Hyde-Smith introduced initially in the 118th Congress, would make minor changes to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) program to make more rural hospitals eligible for REH designation and improved federal reimbursement rates.
“A rural hospital with an REH designation means there is a greater chance that lives can be saved. This is a good program, but it can be improved by recognizing the rural hospital closure crisis began long before 2020 and that bureaucratic definitions inhibit too many rural communities from maintaining or restoring life-saving emergency care. This bill would remedy these shortcomings,” said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee.
As authorized by Congress, CMS instituted the REH designation process in 2023 to respond to rural hospital closures and ensure more access to health care in rural areas, particularly in communities that cannot sustain an inpatient hospital. REH-designated facilities receive enhanced Medicare payments for certain outpatient services and additional monthly payments to provide 24-hour emergency and observation services.
The Rural Health Care Sustainability Act would:
- Extend application eligibility dates from the existing December 2020 to January 2014, which would allow rural facilities closed since 2014 an opportunity to apply for REH designation.
- Authorize the use of the definition of “rural” set by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office of Rural Health Policy rather than the more restrictive definition used by the Office of Management and Budget.
The National Rural Health Association, Healthcare Collaborative, Mississippi Hospital Association, and Mississippi Rural Health Association are among the organizations supporting The Rural Health Sustainability Act.
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