Senator Marshall Joins Legislation to Strengthen Rural Emergency Hospital Program

Washington - U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), joined Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Tina Smith (D-Minnesota) in introducing the bipartisan Rural Emergency Hospital Designation Improvement Act (REH 2.0), bipartisan legislation to expand access to federal resources for rural hospitals through the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) Medicare designation.This legislation would allow more Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) and rural hospitals at risk of closure to sustain health care services in rural communities, and it would make technical improvements to the designation.

"For 25 years, I delivered babies across western Kansas and was often the only OB-GYN serving nearly 60,000 people. I know firsthand what it means when a community struggles to access quality health care, and I understand what's at stake when a rural hospital is at risk of closing," said Sen. Marshall. "This bill makes improvements to the Rural Emergency Hospital program, giving more hospitals the flexibility to adapt to today's realities instead of closing their doors and leaving rural families without the care they depend on."

This legislation is cosponsored by Sens. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alaska), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi).
The REH Designation Improvement Act is also supported by the National Rural Health Association.

The Rural Emergency Hospital Designation Improvement Act would:

• Allow previously closed rural hospitals to re-open and apply for the Rural Emergency Hospital designation if they can demonstrate they met all eligibility requirements between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 27, 2020.
• Direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a waiver program for facilities operating similarly to an REH in order to convert to an REH.
• Allow REH facilities to maintain or create a unit for inpatient psychiatric care and obstetric care, and allow for limited inpatient rehabilitation services.
• Require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide additional funding for laboratory services.
• Clarify that REH facilities are eligible for Small Rural Hospital Improvement grants.
• Direct the Secretary of HHS to allow an REH to be eligible as a National Health Service Corps site.
• Authorize REH facilities to transfer patients from acute care to a Skilled Nursing Facility without leaving the hospital, in accordance with the Social Security Act.
• Allow an REH facility to revert back to a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) to regain necessary provider status, only if the facility was designated a necessary provider prior to converting to REH.
• Clarify that state Medicaid agencies can pay REH facilities as hospitals.

Full text of the legislation can be found HERE.

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