Bill Sponsor
House Bill 489
117th Congress(2021-2022)
Protecting Rural Access to Care Act
Introduced
Introduced
Introduced in House on Jan 25, 2021
Overview
Text
Introduced
Jan 25, 2021
Latest Action
Jan 28, 2021
Origin Chamber
House
Type
Bill
Bill
The primary form of legislative measure used to propose law. Depending on the chamber of origin, bills begin with a designation of either H.R. or S. Joint resolution is another form of legislative measure used to propose law.
Bill Number
489
Congress
117
Policy Area
Health
Health
Primary focus of measure is science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease; health services administration and funding, including such programs as Medicare and Medicaid; health personnel and medical education; drug use and safety; health care coverage and insurance; health facilities. Measures concerning controlled substances and drug trafficking may fall under Crime and Law Enforcement policy area.
Sponsorship by Party
Republican
New York
Republican
New York
House Votes (0)
Senate Votes (0)
No House votes have been held for this bill.
Summary

Protecting Rural Access to Care Act

This bill limits the scope of guidance issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the secondary road criteria for Medicare critical access hospitals (CAHs).

Currently, in order to qualify as a CAH under Medicare, a hospital must either (1) be located more than 35 miles (15 miles in mountainous regions or areas with only secondary roads) from another hospital, or (2) have been certified prior to January 1, 2006, by the state as a necessary provider of services in the area.

The CMS issued guidance on July 31, 2015, that provided more detail as to the differences between primary and secondary roads for purposes of CAH certification. The bill specifies that this guidance does not apply to CAHs that were certified prior to July 31, 2015, and that these CAHs are instead subject to the standards that were in place before the guidance was issued. Ongoing CAH certifications are also subject to pre-guidance standards until the CMS issues new guidance after a specified public comment period.

Text (1)
January 25, 2021
Actions (3)
01/28/2021
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
01/25/2021
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
01/25/2021
Introduced in House
Public Record
Record Updated
Jan 11, 2023 1:43:28 PM