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Temporarily waives the normal distance rule so certain rural community hospitals that participated in the Section 410A demonstration can be designated as critical access hospitals (CAHs) for a limited time. The waiver applies nationwide for designation actions during a one-year period that begins six months after the bill becomes law, and only to hospitals that were participating in the Section 410A demonstration as of enactment. The bill also clarifies language in the Section 410A definition to explicitly reference the CAH definition in the Social Security Act. No new appropriation or long-term program change is created; this is a temporary, targeted change to allow CAH designation for eligible rural community hospitals during the specified window.
The bill gives a one-year opportunity for eligible rural demo hospitals to convert to CAH status—helping preserve local inpatient care and hospital finances—but raises Medicare costs and creates short-term administrative strain.
Patients in affected rural areas, including Medicare beneficiaries, are more likely to keep local inpatient access because eligible hospitals can convert to Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status, preserving small hospitals' operations and acute care services.
Rural hospitals that participated in the Section 410A demonstration can convert to CAH status during the one-year window, gaining higher Medicare reimbursement and improved financial stability.
Taxpayers and the Medicare program may face higher spending because payments to newly designated CAHs are generally higher, increasing federal Medicare outlays.
Hospitals and state surveyors could face a rushed, higher short-term administrative workload to pursue and process CAH designations within the one-year window.
Introduced February 11, 2025 by Mike Flood · Last progress February 11, 2025