WASHINGTON – Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) are continuing their support for rural health care by
introducing the Rural Hospital
Support Act. Their bipartisan proposal seeks to permanently extend
two key Medicare rural hospital programs and establish a new rebasing year –
preventing closures that would disrupt access to care for individuals in rural
communities. The Rural Hospital
Support Act would permanently extend the existing
Medicare-dependent Hospital (MDH) and Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) programs, and
it would establish a new rebasing year for Sole Community Hospitals (SCH) and
MDHs based on 2016 data. Iowa is home to about a dozen hospitals that benefit
from these programs.
“As a resident of rural Iowa, I understand
the importance of having access to health care services close to home. These
programs bring a lot of value for rural residents and taxpayers,” Grassley said. “Small, rural hospitals offer
good-quality health care at a cost that compares well with urban hospitals’
cost. Congress should permanently extend the programs that help keep the doors
open for rural Medicare beneficiaries.”
“Every American deserves reliable access
to health care,” Casey said. “Rural hospitals
can be the difference between life and death in many parts of the U.S. Often, a
rural hospital means not only safe, dependable access to health care and
emergency health needs, but economic safety and stability for an entire
community. This legislation takes an important step to maintain that lifeline,
especially for older adults and lower income Americans. I will continue to work
to bring federal funding to rural communities and make sure older Americans
have the health care support they need no matter where they live.”
Additional Information
The bill’s original cosponsors include
Senators Kaine (D-Virginia), Wicker (R-Miss.), Sinema (D-Arizona), Moran
(R-Kansas), Smith (D-Minn.), Marshall (R-Kansas), Stabenow (D-Mich.), Boozman
(R-Ark.), Heinrich (D-N.M.), Hawley (R-Missouri), Shaheen (D-N.H.), Capito
(R-West Virginia.), and Kelly (D-Arizona).
Rural hospitals often
provide care to patients who are older
and have lower incomes compared to national averages, as well as patients who
are more likely to rely on Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to being the main
providers of care in their communities, many rural hospitals serve as economic
anchors – accounting for around
14 percent of total employment in rural
areas. Rural hospitals need predictable and stable resources to ensure that
they can continue to serve their communities and provide quality care.
This effort builds off the recent two-year
extension of the MDH and LVH through September 30, 2024. By helping hospitals
keep their doors open, MDH and LVH designations are the safety net providers
for rural Americans and are extremely important to rural economies. This
legislation does not change other rural hospital Medicare programs including
critical access hospitals (CAH), rural referral centers (RRC), Rural Community
Hospital Demonstration, or the new voluntary rural
emergency hospitals (REH). Each of these rural programs offer unique flexibilities
to ensure health care services are accessible in rural America.
“These extender programs have an enormous
financial impact on Iowa hospitals by providing funding for essential services
and for hospitals to remain viable. These programs also allow hospitals to
contribute to their communities through improvements to access to care,
employing members of the community, and using services from community
businesses, both in and outside of the healthcare sector. IHA is pleased to see
Senator Grassley work on this important issue,” said
Chris Mitchell, Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) President and Chief Executive
Officer.
“The Low-Volume Hospital (LVH)
program helps our rural community by providing necessary financial support to
help ensure our patients and their families have health care that is accessible
and affordable,” said Jenni Friedly, President of UnityPoint
Health – Marshalltown.
“There is a continued need for
small rural hospitals to help ensure Iowans living in rural communities have
access to care locally. The Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) program will help
continue to support this need and we appreciate Senator Grassley’s ongoing
leadership in securing needed funding,” said Rachel Pohl, Executive
Director of UnityPoint Health – Trinity Muscatine.
“MercyOne supports the Rural Hospital
Support Act given our system includes hospitals of all different structures and
sizes. For communities like Newton and Clinton, those local community
hospitals are responsible for 24/7 coverage and have a critical responsibility
to take care of Iowans. This legislation will help us to sustain community care
24/7, and ensure access to care across our state,” said Bob Ritz, President and Chief Executive Officer of MercyOne.
“The National Rural Health Association
(NRHA) applauds Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Bob Casey (D-PA) for their
bipartisan proposal to reauthorize the Medicare-Dependent Small Rural Hospital
(MDH) and Low-Volume Hospital (LVH) program add-ons beyond October 1, 2024.
Both the MDH and LVH designation are critical to providers across the United
States. As rural America rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, now is not the
time to let lifeline programs lapse. Reauthorization is critical to ensuring
stability for the rural health safety net,” said Alan Morgan, Chief Executive
Officer, National Rural Health Association.
“On
behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health
care organizations, our clinician partners — including more than 270,000
affiliated physicians, two million nurses and other caregivers — and the 43,000
health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups, the
American Hospital Association (AHA) is pleased to support the Rural Hospital
Support Act (S. 1110),” said Lisa Kidder Hrobsky, Senior Vice President
Advocacy and Political Affairs, American Hospital Association.
“Senators
Casey and Grassley have long-recognized the challenges that rural hospitals
face and the need for Congress to enact a long-term extension of these
important payment protections. We thank the Senators, along with the bill’s 13
additional original cosponsors, for their commitment to safeguarding the
ability of rural hospitals to serve their patients and communities,” Alliance for Rural Hospital Access.
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