I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1775
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to modify the criteria
for designation of rural emergency hospitals.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH3, 2025
Mr. A
RRINGTON(for himself, Ms. TOKUDA, and Mr. PFLUGER) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means,
and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
concerned
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to modify
the criteria for designation of rural emergency hospitals.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Second Chances for 4
Rural Hospitals Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF RURAL EMER-1
GENCY HOSPITAL UNDER THE MEDICARE 2
PROGRAM. 3
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Section 1861(kkk) of the Social 4
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(kkk)) is amended— 5
(1) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘is enrolled 6
under section 1866(j)’’ and inserting ‘‘except in the 7
case of a facility described in paragraph (3)(B)’’; 8
(2) in paragraph (3)— 9
(A) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 10
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; 11
(B) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) 12
and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively, and 13
adjusting the margins accordingly; 14
(C) by striking ‘‘facility that as of’’ and in-15
serting ‘‘facility— 16
‘‘(A) that as of’’; and 17
(D) by adding at the end the following new 18
subparagraph: 19
‘‘(B) that— 20
‘‘(i) during the period beginning Jan-21
uary 1, 2014, and ending December 26, 22
2020— 23
‘‘(I) was a critical access hos-24
pital; or 25
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‘‘(II) was a subsection (d) hos-1
pital (as defined in section 2
1886(d)(1)(B)) located in a county 3
(or equivalent unit of local govern-4
ment) in a rural area (as defined in 5
section 1886(d)(2)(D)); and 6
‘‘(ii) as of the date of the enactment 7
of this subparagraph, had ceased oper-8
ations.’’; and 9
(3) in paragraph (4)— 10
(A) in subparagraph (A)(i), by striking 11
‘‘An action plan’’ and inserting ‘‘Except in the 12
case of a facility described in paragraph (3)(B), 13
an action plan’’; and 14
(B) in subparagraph (B)(i), by inserting 15
‘‘except in the case of a facility described in 16
paragraph (3)(B),’’ before ‘‘the facility’’. 17
(b) A
MENDMENTS TO PAYMENTRULES.—Section 18
1834(x) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(x)) 19
is amended— 20
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, except 21
that, in the case of a facility described in section 22
1861(kkk)(3)(B) that, as of the date on which such 23
facility submits an application under section 1866(j) 24
to enroll under this title as a rural emergency hos-25
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pital, is located less than 35 miles away from the 1
nearest hospital, critical access hospital, or rural 2
emergency hospital, such increase shall not apply’’ 3
before the period at the end; and 4
(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘(other 5
than a facility described in section 1861(kkk)(3)(B) 6
that, as of the date on which such facility submits 7
an application under section 1866(j) to enroll under 8
this title as a rural emergency hospital, is located 9
less than 10 miles away from the nearest hospital, 10
critical access hospital, or rural emergency hos-11
pital)’’ after ‘‘rural emergency hospital’’. 12
(c) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 13
this section shall apply beginning January 1, 2027. 14
Æ
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