Rural Health Care Access Act of 2025

This bill makes it easier for small rural hospitals to qualify for special Medicare support. It removes the rule that a hospital must be a certain distance from another hospital (like 35 miles, or 15 miles in hard-to-reach areas) to qualify as a “critical access hospital.” It also removes the old rule that the hospital had to be certified by the state as “necessary” before 2006. States may now designate rural facilities as critical access hospitals without any mileage limits, helping more local hospitals keep their doors open and serve patients closer to home .

The change applies to new designations made on or after the date the bill becomes law, so communities could see effects soon after it’s enacted.

• Who is affected: Rural hospitals and the patients who use them.
• What changes: Distance and older certification limits are removed; states can name rural facilities as critical access hospitals without mileage restrictions .
• When: Applies to designations made on or after the law’s enactment date.