This bill, titled the "Supporting Access to Rural Community Hospitals Act of 2025," aims to ease the designation process for certain rural community hospitals seeking Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status. It amends Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to waive the standard distance requirements typically needed for CAH designation. Specifically, the waiver applies to rural community hospitals that were participating in a demonstration program established under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 as of the bill's enactment. This special provision for waiving distance requirements will be available for a one-year period , commencing six months after the bill becomes law, thereby expanding access to CAH status for eligible facilities.
Health care coverage and accessHospital careMedicareRural conditions and development
Supporting Access to Rural Community Hospitals Act of 2025
USA119th CongressS-521| Senate
| Updated: 2/11/2025
This bill, titled the "Supporting Access to Rural Community Hospitals Act of 2025," aims to ease the designation process for certain rural community hospitals seeking Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status. It amends Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to waive the standard distance requirements typically needed for CAH designation. Specifically, the waiver applies to rural community hospitals that were participating in a demonstration program established under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 as of the bill's enactment. This special provision for waiving distance requirements will be available for a one-year period , commencing six months after the bill becomes law, thereby expanding access to CAH status for eligible facilities.