Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act

This bill aims to improve access to anesthesiology services in rural areas by modifying Medicare payment rules. It proposes to shift the payment mechanism for anesthesia services provided by an anesthesiologist in specific rural hospitals and critical access hospitals from a fee-for-service model under Medicare Part B to a reasonable cost basis under Medicare Part A. This change would apply to cost reporting periods beginning one year after the bill's enactment. To be eligible, a rural hospital or critical access hospital must meet several criteria. As of the bill's enactment, the hospital must employ or contract with no more than one full-time equivalent anesthesiologist . Additionally, in 2026, and annually thereafter, the hospital's volume of surgical procedures requiring anesthesia services must not exceed 800, though the Secretary may adjust this number. Crucially, any anesthesiologist providing services at these qualifying hospitals must agree not to bill under Part B for those services. The legislation specifies that these anesthesiology services will be treated as part of inpatient hospital services for payment purposes in eligible rural hospitals and included in the scope of services for critical access hospitals. The Secretary of Health and Human Services is mandated to revise regulations to reflect these changes, effectively excluding these specific services from the traditional definition of "physicians' services" for certain Medicare provisions.