This bill protects rural hospitals that serve hard-to-reach areas. If a small hospital already qualified as a “critical access hospital” because it was at least 15 miles away by mountainous or secondary roads, it will keep meeting that distance rule starting January 1, 2026—even if a new hospital or similar facility opens 10–15 miles away later on. The hospital must show it met the 15-mile rule at its last certification. The federal health agency must issue rules within one year to carry this out . The bill also changes how far ambulance services linked to these hospitals must travel to qualify for special payment, though the exact new distances aren’t specified in the provided text .

• Who benefits: Patients in rural, mountainous, or winding-road areas keep local emergency and basic hospital care close to home. Hospitals won’t lose their special status just because another facility opens nearby within 10–15 miles .

Key points:

• Affected: Existing critical access hospitals that previously met the 15-mile rule via mountainous terrain or secondary roads, and their patients .
• What changes: These hospitals are deemed to keep meeting the distance rule starting in 2026; the agency must set implementing rules; ambulance distance rules tied to these hospitals are revised (details not provided here) .
• When: Distance protection begins January 1, 2026; implementing rules due within one year of enactment .