Second Chances for Rural Hospitals Act
Second Chances for Rural Hospitals Act
Plain Language Summary
# Second Chances for Rural Hospitals Act Summary **What the Bill Does:** This bill would expand eligibility for a special Medicare payment program designed to help rural hospitals. In 2020, Congress created a new category called "Rural Emergency Hospitals" (REHs) that receive different Medicare payments than traditional hospitals. These facilities focus on emergency services and short-term outpatient care, with patients staying an average of 24 hours or less. Currently, only hospitals that were operating on December 27, 2020, can qualify for this program.
This bill would allow hospitals that closed between 2014 and 2020 to also become REHs, giving them a "second chance" to reopen or reorganize under this designation. **Who It Affects:** The bill primarily affects rural hospitals that shut down in the years before the REH program was created, potentially allowing them to access new Medicare funding. It also impacts rural communities that lost hospital services during that period. The changes would take effect in 2027, giving hospitals several years to prepare. **Current Status:** The bill was introduced by Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) and is currently in committee, meaning it has not yet been debated or voted on by the full House of Representatives.
CRS Official Summary
Second Chances for Rural Hospitals ActThis bill allows additional hospitals to qualify as rural emergency hospitals (REHs) under Medicare.In 2020, Congress established REHs as a new Medicare provider designation for hospitals in rural areas providing emergency department services, observation care, and other outpatient medical and health services for which the annual per patient average length of stay does not exceed 24 hours. These hospitals must have been open as of December 27, 2020, in order to qualify for the new REH designation. The bill allows hospitals that were open between January 1, 2014, and December 26, 2020, to also qualify for the REH designation, and it provides for a specific payment structure for these hospitals. The bill's changes take effect beginning in 2027.
Latest Action
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.