H.R. 6240 · 119th Congress
Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025
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D
VindmanSponsor3 cosponsors · 3 R
2 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
This bill temporarily allows additional hospitals to qualify as critical access hospitals (CAHs) that receive special payment under Medicare.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in House · Nov 20, 2025
Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025
This bill temporarily allows additional hospitals to qualify as critical access hospitals (CAHs) that receive special payment under Medicare.
Currently, in order to qualify as a CAH under Medicare, a hospital must either (1) be located more than 35 miles (or 15 miles in mountainous regions or areas with only secondary roads) from another hospital, or (2) have been certified prior to January 1, 2006, by the state as a necessary provider of services in the area.
The bill allows a hospital to also qualify if the hospital is a small, rural hospital that (1) serves a health professional shortage area, or a high number of low-income individuals or Medicare beneficiaries; (2) has experienced financial losses for two consecutive years; and (3) attests to having a strategic plan to address financial solvency and to committing to provide a service that is in high demand in the hospital's service area. This authority expires nine years after the bill's enactment.
The Government Accountability Office must study the effects of the bill's implementation. In addition, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission must study and recommend payment systems for rural hospitals under Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services must subsequently establish a mechanism and issue guidance on how newly designated CAHs may transition to different payment models under Medicare, including any new payment models recommended by the commission.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025
Latest action (Nov 20, 2025): Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Policy area: Health · Origin: House · Introduced: Nov 20, 2025
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.