1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Rural Hospital Frontier Workforce Fairness Act”.
Rural Hospital Frontier Workforce Fairness Act
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend the floor on the area wage index under the inpatient prospective payment system to certain sole community hospitals.
2. Extending floor on area wage index to certain sole community hospitals
Section 1886(d)(3)(E)(iii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(3)(E)(iii)) is amended—
in subclause (I), by inserting before the period at the end the following: “and, for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2019, the area wage index applicable under this subparagraph to any sole community hospital that is located not more than 75 miles from the closest frontier State and that makes an election under subclause (V) may not be less than 1.00”; and
by adding at the end the following new subclause:
“(V) Sole community hospital election—The Secretary shall provide for a process under which a sole community hospital described in subclause (I) may elect, at such time and in such manner as specified by the Secretary, to apply subclause (I) to such sole community hospital.”