Rural hospitals are increasingly at risk of closing due to lack of funding. Between 2015 and 2019, the U.S. saw a 59 percent decline in the number of rural community hospitals. It's why the American Hospital Association is urging Congress to pass the Rural Hospital Support Act.
The bill was first introduced in 2021 to modify and extend "certain payment adjustments for rural hospitals under Medicare's inpatient prospective payment system." If passed, it's something the AHA says would provide "greater financial stability" for Medicare-dependent hospitals and "leave them better able to serve their communities."
"Rural hospitals are essential access points for care, economic anchors for communities and the backbone of our nation’s rural public health infrastructure," the April 3 letter reads. "These hospitals have maintained their commitment to ensuring local access to high-quality, affordable care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, in spite of unprecedented financial and workforce challenges over the last three years."
The AHA's letter addressed to Sens. Bob Casey and Chuck Grassley calls for the act's passage and establishment of a permanent "prospective payment system payment rate," and "an additional base year [Medicare-dependent hospitals] could choose when calculating their payments."
The AHA letter claims doing so would support:
- Small rural hospitals that have a majority of patients on Medicare.
- Providers in small, isolated communities by extending "the low-volume adjustment to ensure that these providers will not again be at a disadvantage and have severe challenges serving their communities."
- Sole community hospitals in allowing them to "choose an additional base year from which payments can be calculated."
Since its introduction, the bill has been read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. It has now been reintroduced to the Senate.