YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyCorporate BenefitsTransparency & AccountabilitySmall rural hospitals in a Medicare test program would keep getting paid closer to their real costs — five more years.
Your Money
Medicare usually pays a hospital a set amount for each patient stay. Hospitals in this test program get paid closer to what their care actually costs, and the bill would keep that going five more years.
Corporate Benefits
Hospitals that joined between December 30, 2024 and January 1, 2027 have not been in the program as long as the others. The bill would let them stay in for the added five years on the same terms.
Transparency & Accountability
The program only runs as long as Congress allows. Moving the end date out five years means lawmakers would not have to look at it again as soon.
More about this bill
A small group of rural hospitals could keep getting paid by Medicare closer to what their care actually costs. This bill would let that setup run five more years, for 20 years in all. Most hospitals get a set Medicare payment for each patient stay. The hospitals in this test program get paid closer to their real costs instead. No more than 30 hospitals can take part at once. Under current law, the program is set to end in mid-2028. The bill also spells out who stays in. Hospitals that joined between December 30, 2024 and January 1, 2027 could keep taking part during the added five years. They would be treated like the hospitals that joined earlier. If you live near one of these hospitals, your own Medicare costs and coverage would not change. The bill sets aside no new money.
Congressional Summary
Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program ReauthorizationThis bill extends the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program for an additional five years. The program tests the feasibility of cost-based reimbursement under Medicare for small rural hospitals that are too large to qualify for special payment as critical access hospitals.The bill specifies that hospitals that participate in the program between December 30, 2024, and January 1, 2027, may continue to participate during the five-year extension period.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2026-04-30
- Date Added
- 2026-05-22
- Source
- Congress.gov →
Like reading a bill in plain English?
We're building an app that does this for every bill in Congress and lets you tell your reps how you want them to vote. We're a small team getting ready to launch, and we're trying to show investors that real people want this. Be one of them. Help us get it built. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment the app is ready.