II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 552
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for the treatment
of critical access hospital services furnished by a critical access hospital
located in a noncontiguous State.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
FEBRUARY12, 2025
Mr. S
ULLIVAN(for himself and Mr. SCHATZ) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide
for the treatment of critical access hospital services fur-
nished by a critical access hospital located in a non-
contiguous State.
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 ‘‘Comprehensive Reim-4
bursement Initiative Targeting Investment and Care in 5
rural Locations’’ or the ‘‘CRITICAL Act’’. 6
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•S 552 IS
SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITALS LO-1
CATED IN A NONCONTIGUOUS STATE. 2
(a) I
NPATIENTCRITICALACCESSHOSPITALSERV-3
ICES.—Section 1814(l)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 4
U.S.C. 1395f(l)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(or, in the 5
case of inpatient critical access hospital services furnished 6
on or after January 1, 2026, by a critical access hospital 7
that is located in a noncontiguous State, 105 percent)’’ 8
after ‘‘101 percent’’. 9
(b) O
UTPATIENTCRITICALACCESSHOSPITALSERV-10
ICES.—Section 1834(g)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 11
U.S.C. 1395m(g)(1)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(or, in the 12
case of outpatient critical access hospital services fur-13
nished on or after January 1, 2026, by a critical access 14
hospital that is located in a noncontiguous State, 105 per-15
cent)’’ after ‘‘101 percent’’. 16
(c) A
MBULANCESERVICES.—Section 1834(l)(8) of 17
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395m(l)(8)) is amend-18
ed by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case of ambulance services fur-19
nished on or after January 1, 2026, by a critical access 20
hospital that is located in a noncontiguous State or by an 21
entity that is owned and operated by a critical access hos-22
pital that is located in a noncontiguous State, 105 per-23
cent)’’ after ‘‘101 percent’’. 24
(d) S
KILLEDNURSINGFACILITYSERVICES.—Sec-25
tion 1883(a)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 26
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•S 552 IS
1395tt(a)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(or, in the case 1
of covered skilled nursing facility services furnished on or 2
after January 1, 2026, under an agreement under this 3
section by a critical access hospital that is located in a 4
noncontiguous State, 105 percent)’’ after ‘‘101 percent’’. 5
Æ
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