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Us Congress House Bill HB1480

Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1480 Compare Versions

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11 I
22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 1480
55 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a rural health center
66 innovation awards program and a rural health department enhancement
77 program, and for other purposes.
88 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
99 FEBRUARY21, 2025
1010 Mr. K
1111 USTOFF(for himself and Mr. PAPPAS) introduced the following bill;
1212 which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
1313 A BILL
1414 To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a rural
1515 health center innovation awards program and a rural
1616 health department enhancement program, and for other
1717 purposes.
1818 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
1919 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2020 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2121 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Rural Health Innova-4
2222 tion Act of 2025’’. 5
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2626 SEC. 2. RURAL HEALTH CENTER INNOVATION AWARDS 1
2727 PROGRAM. 2
2828 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 3
2929 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.) is amended by adding 4
3030 at the end the following: 5
3131 ‘‘SEC. 330Q. RURAL HEALTH CENTER INNOVATION AWARDS 6
3232 PROGRAM. 7
3333 ‘‘(a) D
3434 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
3535 ‘‘(1) E
3636 LIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘eligible en-9
3737 tity’ means an entity that— 10
3838 ‘‘(A) is a Federally qualified health center; 11
3939 ‘‘(B) is a rural health clinic; or 12
4040 ‘‘(C) agrees (as a condition of receiving a 13
4141 grant under this section) to establish such a 14
4242 center or clinic, including a hospital that agrees 15
4343 (as such a condition) to convert to a Federally 16
4444 qualified health center or rural health clinic. 17
4545 ‘‘(2) F
4646 EDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CEN -18
4747 TER.—The term ‘Federally qualified health center’ 19
4848 has the meaning given such term in section 20
4949 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act. 21
5050 ‘‘(3) R
5151 URAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ 22
5252 means any area that is rural, within the meaning of 23
5353 such term as used by the Office of Rural Health 24
5454 Policy of the Health Resources and Services Admin-25
5555 istration for purposes of determining eligibility for 26
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5959 grants or services, including any area that is rural 1
6060 within such meaning as used by such Office for fis-2
6161 cal year 2025 or any area that is rural within such 3
6262 meaning as amended for a subsequent fiscal year. 4
6363 ‘‘(4) R
6464 URAL HEALTH CLINIC .—The term ‘rural 5
6565 health clinic’ has the meaning given such term in 6
6666 section 1861(aa) of the Social Security Act. 7
6767 ‘‘(b) E
6868 STABLISHMENT.— 8
6969 ‘‘(1) I
7070 N GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 9
7171 through the Director of the Office of Rural Health 10
7272 Policy of the Health Resources and Services Admin-11
7373 istration, shall establish a grant program to be 12
7474 known as the ‘Rural Health Center Innovation 13
7575 Awards program’ to award grants to eligible entities 14
7676 that submit an application in accordance with sub-15
7777 section (c) to enable such entities to establish or 16
7878 maintain a Federally qualified health center or rural 17
7979 health clinic that— 18
8080 ‘‘(A) serves individuals in a rural area as 19
8181 a walk-in urgent care center and as a triage 20
8282 center or staging facility for necessary air or 21
8383 ambulance transport to an emergency depart-22
8484 ment; and 23
8585 ‘‘(B) includes— 24
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8989 ‘‘(i) professional clinical staff, includ-1
9090 ing physicians, physician interns, residents, 2
9191 nurse practitioners, physician assistants, 3
9292 nurse midwives, or other health care pro-4
9393 viders providing walk-in urgent care and 5
9494 emergency triage; and 6
9595 ‘‘(ii) resources, including laboratories, 7
9696 x-ray machines, and cardiac monitors. 8
9797 ‘‘(2) P
9898 ERMISSIBLE USES OF FUNDS .—The 9
9999 funds of a grant awarded under this section may be 10
100100 used to— 11
101101 ‘‘(A) expand the hours of operation of a 12
102102 Federally qualified health center or rural health 13
103103 clinic; 14
104104 ‘‘(B) pay for the costs of construction and 15
105105 renovation of a Federally qualified health center 16
106106 or rural health clinic; or 17
107107 ‘‘(C) carry out any other activity for the 18
108108 purposes described in paragraph (1). 19
109109 ‘‘(c) A
110110 PPLICATIONS ANDSELECTION.— 20
111111 ‘‘(1) I
112112 N GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 21
113113 grant under this section shall submit to the Sec-22
114114 retary an application at such time, in such manner, 23
115115 and containing such information as the Secretary 24
116116 may reasonably require. 25
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120120 ‘‘(2) START UP CENTERS AND CLINICS .—An 1
121121 application submitted under paragraph (1) by an eli-2
122122 gible entity that is not a Federally qualified health 3
123123 center, or a rural health clinic, shall include a dem-4
124124 onstration of the costs of the equipment and staffing 5
125125 needed to establish the center or clinic. 6
126126 ‘‘(3) C
127127 ONSIDERATION OF OVERLAP .—In the 7
128128 case an eligible entity submits an application under 8
129129 paragraph (1) that proposes to serve an area that is 9
130130 served by another eligible entity through a grant 10
131131 under this section, the Secretary may consider 11
132132 whether an award to the eligible entity serving such 12
133133 same area can be justified based on the unmet need 13
134134 for additional services in such area. 14
135135 ‘‘(4) P
136136 RIORITY.—In selecting recipients of 15
137137 grants under this section, the Secretary shall give 16
138138 priority to an eligible entity that is operating as a 17
139139 Federally qualified health center, or a rural health 18
140140 clinic, on the date on which the entity submits the 19
141141 application under paragraph (1). 20
142142 ‘‘(d) G
143143 RANTPERIOD ANDAMOUNTS.— 21
144144 ‘‘(1) P
145145 ERIOD; RENEWAL.—Each grant awarded 22
146146 under this section— 23
147147 ‘‘(A) shall be for a period of 5 years; and 24
148148 ‘‘(B) may be renewed. 25
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152152 ‘‘(2) AMOUNT.— 1
153153 ‘‘(A) I
154154 N GENERAL.—The amount of a 2
155155 grant awarded under this section to an eligible 3
156156 entity shall not exceed— 4
157157 ‘‘(i) for the first year of the grant— 5
158158 ‘‘(I) $500,000 if the entity is a 6
159159 Federally qualified health center, or a 7
160160 rural health clinic, on the date on 8
161161 which the award is made; and 9
162162 ‘‘(II) $750,000 if the entity is 10
163163 using the grant to establish a Feder-11
164164 ally qualified health center or a rural 12
165165 health clinic; and 13
166166 ‘‘(ii) for each of the second through 14
167167 fifth years of the grant, $500,000. 15
168168 ‘‘(B) C
169169 ONSIDERATIONS.—In determining 16
170170 the amount of a grant under this section for an 17
171171 eligible entity for each year after the first year 18
172172 in which the grant is awarded, the Secretary 19
173173 shall, subject to subparagraph (A)(ii), consider 20
174174 the number of patients treated, and the type of 21
175175 treatment provided, by the entity in the prior 22
176176 year. 23
177177 ‘‘(e) R
178178 EPORTING.— 24
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182182 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 1
183183 after the date of enactment of this section, the Sec-2
184184 retary shall report to the committees described in 3
185185 paragraph (2) on the grant program under this sec-4
186186 tion, including— 5
187187 ‘‘(A) an assessment of the success of the 6
188188 program, challenges with respect to the pro-7
189189 gram, and any action for regulatory flexibility 8
190190 or legislative authority needed to improve the 9
191191 program; 10
192192 ‘‘(B) any savings to Federal health care 11
193193 programs; 12
194194 ‘‘(C) any increase in access to care; and 13
195195 ‘‘(D) any increase in utilization of health 14
196196 services in rural areas. 15
197197 ‘‘(2) C
198198 OMMITTEES.—The committees described 16
199199 in this paragraph are— 17
200200 ‘‘(A) the Committee on Health, Education, 18
201201 Labor, and Pensions, and the Committee on Fi-19
202202 nance, of the Senate; and 20
203203 ‘‘(B) the Committee on Energy and Com-21
204204 merce, and the Committee on Ways and Means, 22
205205 of the House of Representatives. 23
206206 ‘‘(f) R
207207 ULE OFCONSTRUCTION.—No entity receiving 24
208208 a grant under this section shall lose status as a Federally 25
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212212 qualified health center, or a rural health clinic, on account 1
213213 of carrying out any activities under this section. 2
214214 ‘‘(g) A
215215 UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3
216216 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4
217217 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.’’. 5
218218 SEC. 3. RURAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT ENHANCEMENT PRO-6
219219 GRAM. 7
220220 Subpart I of part D of title III of the Public Health 8
221221 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b et seq.), as amended by sec-9
222222 tion 2, is further amended by adding at the end the fol-10
223223 lowing: 11
224224 ‘‘SEC. 330R. RURAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT ENHANCEMENT 12
225225 PROGRAM. 13
226226 ‘‘(a) D
227227 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 14
228228 ‘‘(1) R
229229 URAL AREA.—The term ‘rural area’ has 15
230230 the meaning given the term in section 330Q(a). 16
231231 ‘‘(2) R
232232 URAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT .—The term 17
233233 ‘rural health department’ means a local public health 18
234234 department that is located in a rural area. 19
235235 ‘‘(b) E
236236 STABLISHMENT.—The Secretary, acting 20
237237 through the Director of the Office of Rural Health Policy 21
238238 of the Health Resources and Services Administration, 22
239239 shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to rural health 23
240240 departments that submit an application in accordance 24
241241 with subsection (c) to enhance such departments and en-25
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245245 able such departments to provide individuals in rural areas 1
246246 with emergency services, triage and transport to emer-2
247247 gency departments, primary care services, and other serv-3
248248 ices similar to services provided by emergency depart-4
249249 ments. 5
250250 ‘‘(c) A
251251 PPLICATIONS.—A rural health department 6
252252 seeking a grant under this section shall submit an applica-7
253253 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 8
254254 containing such information as the Secretary may reason-9
255255 ably require, including— 10
256256 ‘‘(1) an indication of the estimated cost of the 11
257257 equipment and staffing needed by the department 12
258258 for the first year of the award to set up the activities 13
259259 under this section; 14
260260 ‘‘(2) a demonstration that the department has, 15
261261 on the date on which the application is submitted, 16
262262 a facility operating in a rural area; and 17
263263 ‘‘(3) a demonstration that, on the date on 18
264264 which the application is submitted, the depart-19
265265 ment— 20
266266 ‘‘(A) has a nursing staff and medical 21
267267 equipment; and 22
268268 ‘‘(B) intends to use such equipment and 23
269269 staffing toward carrying out the activities under 24
270270 this section. 25
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274274 ‘‘(d) GRANTS.— 1
275275 ‘‘(1) A
276276 NNUAL AWARDS .—The funds awarded 2
277277 through a grant under this section to a rural health 3
278278 department shall be awarded on an annual basis for 4
279279 each of 5 years. 5
280280 ‘‘(2) M
281281 AXIMUM AMOUNTS .—The amount of a 6
282282 grant under this section for a year shall not exceed 7
283283 $500,000. 8
284284 ‘‘(3) C
285285 ONSIDERATIONS.—The Secretary shall 9
286286 determine the amount awarded through a grant 10
287287 under this section for a year in accordance with the 11
288288 following: 12
289289 ‘‘(A) For the first year of the grant, the 13
290290 amount shall be based on the amount the rural 14
291291 health department estimates for the cost of 15
292292 equipment and staffing needed to establish and 16
293293 implement the activities and services supported 17
294294 under this section, as specified in the applica-18
295295 tion under subsection (c). 19
296296 ‘‘(B) For the second through fifth years of 20
297297 the grant, the amount shall be based on the 21
298298 number of patients treated, and the type of 22
299299 treatment provided, by the rural health depart-23
300300 ment in the prior year. 24
301301 ‘‘(e) U
302302 SE OFFUNDS.— 25
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306306 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A rural health department 1
307307 receiving a grant under this section shall use the 2
308308 funds awarded through the grant to carry out the 3
309309 activities described in subsection (b) at a facility 4
310310 that is located in a rural area, including by— 5
311311 ‘‘(A) obtaining additional medical equip-6
312312 ment and resources necessary for carrying out 7
313313 the activities described in subsection (b), such 8
314314 as laboratories, x-ray machines, and cardiac 9
315315 monitors; 10
316316 ‘‘(B) hiring additional providers to carry 11
317317 out the activities described in subsection (b), 12
318318 such as physician interns, residents, nurse prac-13
319319 titioners, physician assistants, and nurse mid-14
320320 wives, which hiring may be through a partner-15
321321 ship with an academic medical center; and 16
322322 ‘‘(C) providing outreach to the community 17
323323 regarding the activities of the rural health de-18
324324 partment carried out using funds provided 19
325325 through a grant under this section. 20
326326 ‘‘(2) L
327327 IMITATIONS.—Of the funds awarded to a 21
328328 rural health department under this section— 22
329329 ‘‘(A) for each year of the grant, not more 23
330330 than 3 percent of such funds may be used to 24
331331 carry out paragraph (1)(B); and 25
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335335 ‘‘(B) for each of the first two years of the 1
336336 grant, not more than 3 percent of such funds 2
337337 may be used to carry out paragraph (1)(C). 3
338338 ‘‘(f) A
339339 UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 4
340340 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 5
341341 $25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.’’. 6
342342 Æ
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