| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1417 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To expand and codify the Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program |
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| 6 | 6 | | of the Department of Agriculture and rename it as the Rural Health |
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| 7 | 7 | | Care Facility Technical Assistance Program. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | FEBRUARY18, 2025 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mr. J |
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| 11 | 11 | | ACKSONof Texas (for himself and Ms. TOKUDA) introduced the following |
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| 12 | 12 | | bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture |
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| 13 | 13 | | A BILL |
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| 14 | 14 | | To expand and codify the Rural Hospital Technical Assist- |
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| 15 | 15 | | ance Program of the Department of Agriculture and |
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| 16 | 16 | | rename it as the Rural Health Care Facility Technical |
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| 17 | 17 | | Assistance Program. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 19 | 19 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 20 | 20 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 21 | 21 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Health Care 4 |
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| 22 | 22 | | Facility Technical Assistance Program Act’’. 5 |
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| 23 | 23 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:21 Mar 12, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1417.IH H1417 |
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| 24 | 24 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | •HR 1417 IH |
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| 26 | 26 | | SEC. 2. EXPANSION AND CODIFICATION OF THE RURAL 1 |
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| 27 | 27 | | HEALTH CARE FACILITY TECHNICAL ASSIST-2 |
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| 28 | 28 | | ANCE PROGRAM OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 3 |
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| 29 | 29 | | AGRICULTURE. 4 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (a) I |
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| 31 | 31 | | NGENERAL.—In lieu of any other authority 5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | under which the Secretary of Agriculture (in this section 6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) may provide technical as-7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | sistance to any eligible health care facility, the Secretary 8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | shall establish, and maintain, directly or by grant, con-9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | tract, or cooperative agreement, a Rural Health Care Fa-10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | cility Technical Assistance Program (in this section re-11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | ferred to as the ‘‘Program’’) to provide technical assist-12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | ance and training, tailored to the capacity and needs of 13 |
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| 40 | 40 | | each eligible health care facility, to help eligible health care 14 |
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| 41 | 41 | | facilities in rural areas— 15 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (1) identify development needs for maintaining 16 |
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| 43 | 43 | | essential health care services, and support action 17 |
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| 44 | 44 | | plans for operational and quality improvement 18 |
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| 45 | 45 | | projects to meet the development needs; 19 |
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| 46 | 46 | | (2) better manage their financial and business 20 |
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| 47 | 47 | | strategies, including providing financial planning as-21 |
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| 48 | 48 | | sistance and preparing long-term financial plans; 22 |
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| 49 | 49 | | and 23 |
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| 50 | 50 | | (3) identify, and apply for assistance from, loan 24 |
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| 51 | 51 | | and grant programs of the Department of Agri-25 |
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| 52 | 52 | | culture for which the facilities are eligible. 26 |
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| 55 | 55 | | •HR 1417 IH |
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| 56 | 56 | | (b) GOALS.—The goals of the Program shall be to— 1 |
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| 57 | 57 | | (1) improve the long-term financial position and 2 |
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| 58 | 58 | | operational efficiency of the eligible health care fa-3 |
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| 59 | 59 | | cilities; 4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | (2) prevent the closure of eligible health care 5 |
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| 61 | 61 | | facilities; 6 |
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| 62 | 62 | | (3) strengthen the delivery of health care in 7 |
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| 63 | 63 | | rural areas; 8 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (4) help eligible rural health care facilities bet-9 |
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| 65 | 65 | | ter access and compete for loans and grants from 10 |
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| 66 | 66 | | programs administered by the Department of Agri-11 |
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| 67 | 67 | | culture; and 12 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (5) continue the activities of the Rural Hospital 13 |
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| 69 | 69 | | Technical Assistance Program in effect as of the 14 |
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| 70 | 70 | | date of the enactment of this subsection. 15 |
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| 71 | 71 | | (c) P |
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| 72 | 72 | | ROGRAMPARTICIPATION.— 16 |
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| 73 | 73 | | (1) I |
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| 74 | 74 | | N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall engage 17 |
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| 75 | 75 | | in outreach and engagement strategies to encourage 18 |
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| 76 | 76 | | eligible health care facilities to participate in the 19 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Program. 20 |
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| 78 | 78 | | (2) E |
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| 79 | 79 | | LIGIBLE HEALTH CARE FACILITY SELEC -21 |
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| 80 | 80 | | TION.—In selecting eligible health care facilities to 22 |
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| 81 | 81 | | participate in the Program, the Secretary shall give 23 |
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| 82 | 82 | | priority to borrowers and grantees of the Rural 24 |
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| 83 | 83 | | Housing Service, Rural Business-Cooperative Serv-25 |
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| 85 | 85 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | •HR 1417 IH |
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| 87 | 87 | | ice, and Rural Utilities Service. The Secretary may 1 |
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| 88 | 88 | | also consider— 2 |
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| 89 | 89 | | (A) the age and physical state of the 3 |
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| 90 | 90 | | health care facility involved; 4 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (B) the financial vulnerability of the eligi-5 |
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| 92 | 92 | | ble health care facility, and the ability of the el-6 |
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| 93 | 93 | | igible health care facility to meet debt obliga-7 |
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| 94 | 94 | | tions; 8 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (C) the electronic health record implemen-9 |
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| 96 | 96 | | tation needs of the health care facility; 10 |
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| 97 | 97 | | (D) whether the eligible health care facility 11 |
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| 98 | 98 | | is located in a health professional shortage area 12 |
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| 99 | 99 | | or a medically underserved area; 13 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (E) whether the eligible health care facility 14 |
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| 101 | 101 | | serves a medically underserved population; and 15 |
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| 102 | 102 | | (F) such other criteria and priorities as 16 |
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| 103 | 103 | | are determined by the Secretary. 17 |
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| 104 | 104 | | (d) R |
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| 105 | 105 | | EPORTINGREQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 1 18 |
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| 106 | 106 | | year after the date of the enactment of this section, and 19 |
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| 107 | 107 | | annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 20 |
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| 108 | 108 | | Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives 21 |
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| 109 | 109 | | and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-22 |
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| 110 | 110 | | estry of the Senate a written report describing the 23 |
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| 111 | 111 | | progress and results of the program conducted under this 24 |
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| 112 | 112 | | section, which should include— 25 |
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| 115 | 115 | | •HR 1417 IH |
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| 116 | 116 | | (1) a brief description of each project to provide 1 |
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| 117 | 117 | | technical assistance to an eligible health care facility 2 |
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| 118 | 118 | | under this section, including— 3 |
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| 119 | 119 | | (A) the name and location of the facility; 4 |
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| 120 | 120 | | (B) a description of the assistance pro-5 |
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| 121 | 121 | | vided; 6 |
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| 122 | 122 | | (C) a description of the outcomes for com-7 |
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| 123 | 123 | | pleted projects; 8 |
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| 124 | 124 | | (D) the cost of the technical assistance; 9 |
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| 125 | 125 | | and 10 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (E) any other information the Secretary 11 |
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| 127 | 127 | | deems appropriate; 12 |
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| 128 | 128 | | (2) a summary of the technical assistance 13 |
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| 129 | 129 | | projects completed; 14 |
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| 130 | 130 | | (3) a summary of the outcomes of the technical 15 |
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| 131 | 131 | | assistance projects; 16 |
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| 132 | 132 | | (4) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 17 |
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| 133 | 133 | | Program; and 18 |
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| 134 | 134 | | (5) recommendations for improving the Pro-19 |
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| 135 | 135 | | gram. 20 |
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| 136 | 136 | | (e) L |
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| 137 | 137 | | IMITATIONS ON AUTHORIZATION OF APPRO-21 |
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| 138 | 138 | | PRIATIONS.—To carry out this section, there are author-22 |
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| 139 | 139 | | ized to be appropriated to the Secretary not more than 23 |
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| 140 | 140 | | $2,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 24 |
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| 141 | 141 | | (f) D |
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| 142 | 142 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 25 |
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| 145 | 145 | | •HR 1417 IH |
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| 146 | 146 | | (1) RURAL AREA.—The term ‘‘rural area’’ has 1 |
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| 147 | 147 | | the meaning given the term in section 343(a)(13)(A) 2 |
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| 148 | 148 | | of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development 3 |
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| 149 | 149 | | Act (7 U.S.C. 1991(a)(13)(A)). 4 |
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| 150 | 150 | | (2) D |
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| 151 | 151 | | EVELOPMENT NEEDS .—The term ‘‘devel-5 |
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| 152 | 152 | | opment needs’’ includes— 6 |
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| 153 | 153 | | (A) constructing, expanding, renovating, or 7 |
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| 154 | 154 | | otherwise modernizing health care facilities; 8 |
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| 155 | 155 | | (B) increasing telehealth capabilities; 9 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (C) acquiring or upgrading health care in-10 |
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| 157 | 157 | | formation systems such as electronic health 11 |
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| 158 | 158 | | records; 12 |
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| 159 | 159 | | (D) providing financial planning assistance 13 |
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| 160 | 160 | | and preparing long-term financial plan; and 14 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (E) such other needs as the Secretary 15 |
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| 162 | 162 | | deems critical to maintaining health care serv-16 |
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| 163 | 163 | | ices in the community in which an eligible 17 |
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| 164 | 164 | | health care facility is located. 18 |
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| 165 | 165 | | (3) E |
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| 166 | 166 | | LIGIBLE HEALTH CARE FACILITY .—The 19 |
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| 167 | 167 | | term ‘‘eligible health care facility’’ means a facility 20 |
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| 168 | 168 | | that is located in a rural area and is— 21 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (A) a hospital (as defined in section 22 |
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| 170 | 170 | | 1861(e) of the Social Security Act); 23 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (B) a psychiatric hospital (as defined in 24 |
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| 172 | 172 | | section 1861(f) of such Act); 25 |
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| 175 | 175 | | •HR 1417 IH |
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| 176 | 176 | | (C) a long-term care hospital (as defined 1 |
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| 177 | 177 | | in section 1861(ccc) of such Act); 2 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (D) a critical access hospital (as defined in 3 |
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| 179 | 179 | | section 1861(mm)(1) of such Act); 4 |
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| 180 | 180 | | (E) a rural health clinic (as defined in sec-5 |
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| 181 | 181 | | tion 1861(aa)(2) of such Act); 6 |
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| 182 | 182 | | (F) a religious nonmedical health care in-7 |
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| 183 | 183 | | stitution (as defined in section 1861(ss)(1) of 8 |
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| 184 | 184 | | such Act); 9 |
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| 185 | 185 | | (G) a sole community hospital (as defined 10 |
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| 186 | 186 | | in section 1886(d)(5)(C)(iii) of such Act); 11 |
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| 187 | 187 | | (H) a rural emergency hospital (as defined 12 |
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| 188 | 188 | | in section 1861(kkk)(2) of such Act); 13 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (I) a home health agency (as defined in 14 |
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| 190 | 190 | | section 1861(o) of such Act); or 15 |
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| 191 | 191 | | (J) a community health center (as defined 16 |
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| 192 | 192 | | in section 330 of the Public Health Service 17 |
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| 193 | 193 | | Act). 18 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (4) H |
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| 195 | 195 | | EALTH PROFESSIONAL SHORTAGE 19 |
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| 196 | 196 | | AREA.—The term ‘‘health professional shortage 20 |
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| 197 | 197 | | area’’ has the meaning given the term in section 21 |
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| 198 | 198 | | 332(a)(1)(A) of the Public Health Service Act. 22 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (5) M |
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| 200 | 200 | | EDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREA .—The 23 |
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| 201 | 201 | | term ‘‘medically underserved area’’ has the meaning 24 |
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| 204 | 204 | | •HR 1417 IH |
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| 205 | 205 | | given the term in section 330I(a)(5) of the Public 1 |
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| 206 | 206 | | Health Service Act. 2 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (6) M |
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| 208 | 208 | | EDICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATION .— 3 |
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| 209 | 209 | | The term ‘‘medically underserved population’’ has 4 |
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| 210 | 210 | | the meaning given the term in section 330(b)(3) of 5 |
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| 211 | 211 | | the Public Health Service Act. 6 |
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| 212 | 212 | | Æ |
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