Bill Summary
The Save Rural Hospitals Act of 2020 aims to amend the Social Security Act in order to ensure fair Medicare hospital payments for hospitals in rural areas. This is achieved through two main provisions: firstly, a minimum area wage index floor of 0.85 is established for hospitals not located in a "frontier state" (as defined in the legislation), meaning they will receive at least this amount in Medicare payments. Secondly, the legislation waives budget neutrality in order to implement this provision, meaning the costs of increasing payments to rural hospitals will not be offset by decreases in payments to other providers. This applies to both inpatient and outpatient services.
Possible Impacts
1. This legislation could affect rural communities by ensuring that they have access to necessary healthcare services. This could potentially improve the overall health and well-being of people living in these areas.
2. The amendment to the Social Security Act could also impact the budget of hospitals in non-frontier states, as they will now have a minimum wage index of 0.85. This could potentially benefit hospitals by providing them with more resources to improve their facilities and services.
3. The waiver of budget neutrality for the area wage index floor could also have an impact on the overall budget of the government, as it may require additional funding to support the minimum wage index for hospitals in non-frontier states. This could potentially affect the allocation of funds for other programs and services.
[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3665 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 3665
To amend the title XVIII of the Social Security Act to preserve access
to rural health care by ensuring fairness in Medicare hospital
payments.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
May 7, 2020
Mr. Alexander (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Shelby, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr.
Cornyn, Mr. Jones, Mr. Perdue, and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the title XVIII of the Social Security Act to preserve access
to rural health care by ensuring fairness in Medicare hospital
payments.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Save Rural Hospitals Act of 2020''.
SEC. 2. ENSURING FAIRNESS IN MEDICARE HOSPITAL PAYMENTS.
(a) Hospital Inpatient Services.--
(1) In general.--Section 1886(d)(3)(E)(i) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395www(d)(3)(E)) is amended--
(A) in clause (i), in the first sentence, by
striking ``or (iii)'' and inserting ``, (iii), or
(iv)''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new clause:
``(iv) Area wage index floor.--
``(I) In general.--For discharges
occurring on or after October 1, 2020,
the area wage index applicable under
this subparagraph to any hospital which
is not located in a frontier State (as
defined in clause (iii)(II)) may not be
less than 0.85.
``(II) Waiving budget neutrality.--
Pursuant to the fifth sentence of
clause (i), this clause shall not be
applied in a budget neutral manner.''.
(2) Waiving budget neutrality.--
(A) Technical amendatory correction.--Section
10324(a)(2) of Public Law 111-148 is amended by
striking ``third sentence'' and inserting ``fifth
sentence''.
(B) Waiver.--Section 1886(d)(3)(E)(i) of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(3)(E)(i)) is amended,
in the fifth sentence--
(i) by striking ``and the amendments'' and
inserting ``, the amendments''; and
(ii) by inserting ``, and the amendments
made by section 2(a)(1) of the Save Rural
Hospitals Act of 2020'' after ``Care Act''.
(b) Hospital Outpatient Department Services.--Section 1833(t) of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395l(t)), is amended--
(1) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ``(19), the
Secretary''and inserting ``(19) and paragraph (23), the
Secretary''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(23) Floor on area wage adjustment factor for hospital
outpatient department services.--With respect to covered OPD
services furnished on or after January 1, 2021, the area wage
adjustment factor applicable under the payment system
established under this subsection to any hospital outpatient
department which is not located in a frontier State (as defined
in section 1886(d)(3)(E)(iii)(II)) may not be less than 0.85.
The preceding sentence shall not be implemented in a budget
neutral manner.''.
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