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H.R. 6240119th CongressIn committeeLatest action Nov 20, 2025Decoded by AI · checked against the record
Official title: Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025
Introduced:
Read the official bill on Congress.govThe plain-language version leads. The official text is always the reference.
A new bill lets up to 120 struggling rural hospitals skip the 35-mile rule to get higher Medicare payments.
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This bill lets states waive the usual 35-mile distance rule so certain struggling rural hospitals can qualify as "critical access hospitals" and get better Medicare payment rates. Hospitals must meet criteria like serving a high-poverty or health-shortage area, having lost money two years running, submitting a financial recovery plan, and committing to add or expand a needed service. The program is capped at 120 hospitals nationwide (5 per state) and expires after 9 years.
This mainly affects rural communities at risk of losing their local hospital, as well as the Medicare program itself.
Expanding the number of critical access hospitals could increase Medicare spending, so the bill requires GAO and MedPAC studies on cost and effectiveness. Hospitals that fail to report progress could lose their special status.
AI-drafted summary. Verify it against the official text before you act on it. Read the official bill on Congress.gov
Right now: a House committee is reviewing it. If the Senate changes it, it goes back to the House before reaching the President.
Latest action: — 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.