119th Congress · introduced in the Senate · Feb 10, 2025
Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025
Official title from Congress.gov
Latest action (Feb 10, 2025): Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S820-821)
View on Congress.govPolicy area: Health
Congressional Research Service summary, version: Introduced in Senate (Feb 10, 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.
Includes amendment, cloture, and procedural votes. Each is labeled with its exact question; only a passage question is a vote to pass the bill.
No recorded roll calls on this bill in coverage.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text: CR S820-821)
Introduced in Senate
Actions from Congress.gov, newest first.
Congressional oversight · Government studies and investigations · Health care costs and insurance · Health facilities and institutions · Hospital care · Medicare · Medicare Payment Advisory Commission · Rural conditions and development
LD-2 reports whose issue descriptions explicitly cite this bill (bill type and number validated against Congress.gov records). A citation does not establish the client's position or any contact with a member.
Loading lobbying reportsCoverage: reports for 2025 onward, posted Jan 1, 2025 through Oct 24, 2026.
7 citations.
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION · lobbying firm or registrant: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
2026 Q3 report (Jul 1, 2026 – Sep 30, 2026) · posted Oct 20, 2026 · issue area: Medicare/Medicaid
$3,840,000
Spent on own lobbying
…y Care Act, all provisions; S. 335, Rural Hospital Support Act, all provisions; S.1816 / H.R.3514, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act, all provisions; S. 502, Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, all provisions; S. 2439 / H.R. 4731, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025, all provisions; H.R. 4002, Patient…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION · lobbying firm or registrant: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
2026 Q2 report (Apr 1, 2026 – Jun 30, 2026) · posted Jul 20, 2026 · issue area: Medicare/Medicaid
$4,470,000
Spent on own lobbying
…y Care Act, all provisions; S. 335, Rural Hospital Support Act, all provisions; S.1816 / H.R.3514, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act, all provisions; S. 502, Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, all provisions; S. 2439 / H.R. 4731, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025, all provisions; H.R. 4002, Patient…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION · lobbying firm or registrant: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
2026 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2026 – Mar 31, 2026) · posted Apr 20, 2026 · issue area: Medicare/Medicaid
$6,080,000
Spent on own lobbying
…Care Act, all provisions; S. 335, Rural Hospital Support Act, all provisions; S.1816 / H.R.3514 , Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act, all provisions; S. 502 / H.R. 6240 , Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, all provisions; S. 2439 / H.R. 4731, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025, all provisions; H.R. 4…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION · lobbying firm or registrant: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
2025 Q4 report (Oct 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025) · posted Jan 20, 2026 · issue area: Medicare/Medicaid
$6,570,000
Spent on own lobbying
…y Care Act, all provisions; S. 335, Rural Hospital Support Act, all provisions; S.1816 / H.R.3514, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act, all provisions; S. 502, Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, all provisions; S. 2439 / H.R. 4731, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025, all provisions; H.R. 4002, Patient…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION · lobbying firm or registrant: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
2025 Q3 report (Jul 1, 2025 – Sep 30, 2025) · posted Oct 20, 2025 · issue area: Medicare/Medicaid
$5,720,000
Spent on own lobbying
…y Care Act, all provisions; S. 335, Rural Hospital Support Act, all provisions; S.1816 / H.R.3514, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act, all provisions; S. 502, Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, all provisions; S. 2439 / H.R. 4731, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2025, all provisions; H.R. 4002, Patient…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION · lobbying firm or registrant: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
2025 Q2 report (Apr 1, 2025 – Jun 30, 2025) · posted Jul 21, 2025 · issue area: Medicare/Medicaid
$6,150,000
Spent on own lobbying
…g Access to Care for Seniors in Critical Condition Act of 2025, all provisions; S.1816 / H.R.3514, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act, all provisions; S. 502, Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, all provisions; DRAFT Bill, Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act, all provisions; Draft Bill, Issues pertaining to pro…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing
AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION · lobbying firm or registrant: AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
2025 Q1 report (Jan 1, 2025 – Mar 31, 2025) · posted Apr 21, 2025 · issue area: Medicare/Medicaid
$7,030,000
Spent on own lobbying
…ct of 2025, All provisions; H.R. 771, Rural Health Care Access Act of 2025, All provisions; DRAFT Bill, Supporting Healthy Moms and Babies Act, All provisions; S. 502, Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025, All provisions; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), 2026 Medicare Advantage and Part D CY 2026 proposed…
Congress inferred from the report year; bill number and the title cited with it match Congress.gov records, and the bill predates the report. The amount is lobbying spending for every issue on this report, not this bill alone, and none of it is paid to any member of Congress. View filing