(This article comes courtesy of MissouriNet.)
West-central Missouri Congressman Mark Alford has introduced legislation he says could help keep rural hospitals from closing their doors.
The bill known as Sustaining Rural Healthcare Act would create a new designation for hospitals—one Alford believes will expand access to care and give struggling rural hospitals a much‑needed financial lifeline.
“Right now, the law is that you cannot be deemed a critical access hospital if you’re within 35 miles from the next nearest hospital,” said Alford. “And the Center for Medicare and Medicaid will look at these and see if there should be an exception, a carve out for some of these hospitals.”
Alford said the new legislation would have a newly-created “Character Critical Access Hospital” designation.
“It will do it based on the hardship and not just the mileage, but the travel and the hardship of getting to this hospital. So, we’ll be on a case-by-case basis,” said Alford.
Alford told Missourinet that this could help to keep rural hospitals from shutting down, including one in Bates County.
“They have just a few days’ cash on hand, and they have other issues that we’re trying to work through,” said Alford. “It’s very important that we keep our rural hospitals open for business. We have 58 designated rural hospitals in Missouri.”
The Sustaining Rural Healthcare Act is co-led by Reps. Henry Cuellar (TX-28, Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15), and Jill Tokuda (HI-02).
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