Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Rural Hospital Extensions for Low-volume Programs Act of 2022” or the “Rural HELP Act of 2022”.
Rural Hospital Extensions for Low-volume Programs Act of 2022
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to permanently extend the Medicare-dependent hospital and low-volume hospital programs under the Medicare program.
Sec. 2 Permanently extending the Medicare-dependent hospital and low-volume hospital programs under the Medicare program
Extension of the Medicare-Dependent hospital (MDH) program—
Extension of payment methodology— Section 1886(d)(5)(G) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(5)(G)) is amended—
in clause (i), by striking “, and before October 1, 2022”; and
in clause (ii)(II), by striking “, and before October 1, 2022”.
Conforming amendments—
Extension of target amount— Section 1886(b)(3)(D) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(b)(3)(D)) is amended—
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “, and before October 1, 2022”; and
in clause (iv), by striking “through fiscal year 2022” and inserting “or a subsequent fiscal year”.
Permitting hospitals to decline reclassification— Section 13501(e)(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 1395ww note) is amended by striking “fiscal year 2000 through fiscal year 2022” and inserting “a subsequent fiscal year”.
Extension of the increased payments under the medicare low-Volume hospital program— Section 1886(d)(12) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(12)) is amended—
in subparagraph (B)—
in the header, by inserting “for fiscal years 2005 through 2010” after “increase”; and
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “and for discharges occurring in fiscal year 2023 and subsequent fiscal years”;
in subparagraph (C)(i)—
in the matter preceding subclause (I), by striking “through 2022” and inserting “and each subsequent fiscal year”;
in subclause (II), by adding at the end “and”;
in subclause (III)—
by striking “fiscal years 2019 through 2022” and inserting “fiscal year 2019 and each subsequent fiscal year”; and
by striking “; and” and inserting a period; and
by striking subclause (IV); and
in subparagraph (D)—
by amending the header to read as follows: “Applicable percentage increase beginning with fiscal year 2021”;
in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “fiscal years 2011 through 2022” and inserting “fiscal year 2019 and each subsequent fiscal year”; and
in clause (ii), by striking “each of fiscal years 2019 through 2022” and inserting “fiscal year 2019 and each subsequent fiscal year”.