Blackburn, Kustoff Introduce Rural Health Agenda to Ease Financial Strain for Rural Hospitals, Expand Access to Urgent Care, and Strengthen Recruiting

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), co-chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, and U.S. Representative David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) introduced their bicameral and bipartisan Rural Health Agenda, which includes the Save Struggling Hospitals Act, Rural Health Innovation Act, and Rural America Health Corps Act. Read more about each of these bills below.

"Access to healthcare should not depend on a person's ZIP code," said Representative Kustoff. "I am proud to help advance the rural health agenda to expand access to quality care in Tennessee and across the nation. It is vital that rural hospitals, clinics, and providers remain a reliable resource for the people who depend on them every day."

SAVE STRUGGLING HOSPITALS ACT

• Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming rate with more than 200 rural hospitals around the nation having closed or converted to models that exclude inpatient care since 2010. Low patient volumes and significant financial strain are often the primary factors in these rural hospital closures. Financial strain for rural hospitals is compounded by the flawed Medicare Area Wage Index that results in rural hospitals receiving lower payment rates.

• The Medicare Area Wage Index formula is based on outdated assumptions for labor costs, resulting in hospitals in historically high-wage urban markets continuing to receive higher payments, while lower-wage regions start from a lower-wage base and cannot easily catch up because Medicare payments themselves influence wage capacity.

• The Save Struggling Hospitals Act, sponsored by Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), would strengthen rural health care by ensuring that hospitals in rural and low-wage areas receive fair Medicare reimbursement for the essential services they provide.

• The bill would codify the Medicare low-wage index hospital policy, which increases Medicare wage index values for hospitals in the bottom 25^th percentile.

• This legislation is endorsed by the Alabama Hospital Association, Ballad Health, Community Health Systems, Lifepoint Health, National Association of Rural Health Clinics, National Rural Health Association, Tennessee Hospital Association, Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association, and University of Memphis Medical Center. It is co-sponsored by Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).

Click here for bill text.

RURAL HEALTH INNOVATION ACT

• Rural Americans increasingly face barriers to accessing quality health care in their communities, including workforce shortages, geographic distance, limited transportation options, gaps in broadband access, and lower health literacy. Together, these challenges make it harder for rural patients to receive timely care close to home and contribute to significant health disparities between rural and urban populations. Rural residents are more likely to die prematurely from the five leading causes of death-including heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke.

• Low patient volumes and financial pressures have made it increasingly difficult for rural hospitals to remain open, further limiting access to care and creating additional challenges for local economies that rely on health care providers as major employers.

• The Rural Health Innovation Act, co-sponsored by Senator John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), would address these challenges by helping rural communities expand urgent care and emergency triage services through existing local health infrastructure by establishing two competitive grant programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

• The Rural Health Center Innovation Awards Program would support Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) by expanding their ability to provide walk-in urgent care, triage, and emergency stabilization services.

• The Rural Health Department Enhancement Program would provide grants to rural local health departments to help meet urgent care and triage needs in their communities

• This legislation is endorsed by the National Rural Health Association. It is co-sponsored by Senator Hyde-Smith.

Click here for bill text.

RURAL AMERICA HEALTH CORPS ACT

• Rural communities face persistent challenges recruiting and retaining health professionals, which can compound the economic and workforce challenges these areas already face. As a result, millions of rural Americans live in federally designated shortage areas for physicians, dentists, and mental health providers.

• The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) typically provides $50,000 in loan repayment awards for a 2-year service commitment to attract clinicians to serve in communities with shortages of health professionals. However, only about one-third of NHSC placements are in rural areas. After completing their two-year commitment, many clinicians leave for higher-paying opportunities elsewhere.

• The Rural America Health Corps Act, co-led by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), would incentivize more health professionals to serve and plant roots in rural communities by creating a pilot program within the NHSC.

• Under the program, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would help repay student loans for clinicians who agree to work full-time in a rural health professional shortage area for five years. Participants could receive up to $200,000 in loan repayment.

• This legislation is endorsed by the American Hospital Association (AHA), National Rural Health Association (NRHA), and American Psychiatric Association. It is co-sponsored by Senators Shelley Moore Capito (R-W. Va.), Jacky Rosen (D-Ill.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Gary Peters (D-Mich.).

Click here for bill text.

RURAL HEALTH AGENDA ENDORSED BY TENNESSEE HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION

The Rural Health Agenda is endorsed by the Tennessee Hospital Association: