Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Second Chances for Rural Hospitals Act”.
Second Chances for Rural Hospitals Act
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to modify the criteria for designation of rural emergency hospitals.
Sec. 2 Expanding the definition of rural emergency hospital under the Medicare program
in paragraph (2)(A), by striking “is enrolled under section 1866(j)” and inserting “except in the case of a facility described in paragraph (3)(B)”;
in paragraph (3)—
in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”;
by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly;
by striking “facility that as of” and inserting
“(A) that as of”
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
“(B) that—
“(i) during the period beginning January 1, 2014, and ending December 26, 2020—
“(I) was a critical access hospital; or
“(II) was a subsection (d) hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(1)(B)) located in a county (or equivalent unit of local government) in a rural area (as defined in section 1886(d)(2)(D)); and
“(ii) as of the date of the enactment of this subparagraph, had ceased operations.”
in paragraph (4)—
in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking “An action plan” and inserting “Except in the case of a facility described in paragraph (3)(B), an action plan”; and
in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting “except in the case of a facility described in paragraph (3)(B),” before “the facility”.
Amendments to payment rules— Section 1834(x) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(x)) is amended—
in paragraph (1), by inserting “, except that, in the case of a facility described in section 1861(kkk)(3)(B) that, as of the date on which such facility submits an application under section 1866(j) to enroll under this title as a rural emergency hospital, is located less than 35 miles away from the nearest hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital, such increase shall not apply” before the period at the end; and
in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting “(other than a facility described in section 1861(kkk)(3)(B) that, as of the date on which such facility submits an application under section 1866(j) to enroll under this title as a rural emergency hospital, is located less than 10 miles away from the nearest hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital)” after “rural emergency hospital”.
Effective date— The amendments made by this section shall apply beginning January 1, 2027.