[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 607 Referred in House (RFH)]
<DOC>
114th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 607
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 25, 2016
Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide for a five-year extension of the Medicare rural community
hospital demonstration program.
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 ``Rural Community Hospital
Demonstration Extension Act of 2015''.
SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION OF THE RURAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM.
(a) Extension.--Section 410A of the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173; 42
U.S.C. 1395ww note), as amended by sections 3123 and 10313 of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), is
amended--
(1) in subsection (a)(5), by striking ``5-year extension
period'' and inserting ``10-year extension period''; and
(2) in subsection (g)--
(A) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Five-
Year'' and inserting ``Ten-Year'';
(B) in paragraph (1), by striking ``additional 5-
year'' and inserting ``additional 10-year'';
(C) by striking ``5-year extension period'' and
inserting ``10-year extension period'' each place it
appears;
(D) in paragraph (4)(B)--
(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), by
inserting ``each 5-year period in'' after
``hospital during''; and
(ii) in clause (i), by inserting ``each
applicable 5-year period in'' after ``the first
day of''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following new
paragraphs:
``(5) Other hospitals in demonstration program.--During the
second 5 years of the 10-year extension period, the Secretary
shall apply the provisions of paragraph (4) to rural community
hospitals that are not described in paragraph (4) but are
participating in the demonstration program under this section
as of December 30, 2014, in a similar manner as such provisions
apply to rural community hospitals described in paragraph (4).
``(6) Expansion of demonstration program to rural areas in
any state.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall,
notwithstanding subsection (a)(2) or paragraph (2) of
this subsection, not later than 120 days after the date
of the enactment of this paragraph, issue a
solicitation for applications to select up to the
maximum number of additional rural community hospitals
located in any State to participate in the
demonstration program under this section for the second
5 years of the 10-year extension period without
exceeding the limitation under paragraph (3) of this
subsection.
``(B) Priority.--In determining which rural
community hospitals that submitted an application
pursuant to the solicitation under subparagraph (A) to
select for participation in the demonstration program,
the Secretary--
``(i) shall give priority to rural
community hospitals located in one of the 20
States with the lowest population densities (as
determined by the Secretary using the 2015
Statistical Abstract of the United States); and
``(ii) may consider--
``(I) closures of hospitals located
in rural areas in the State in which
the rural community hospital is located
during the 5-year period immediately
preceding the date of the enactment of
this paragraph; and
``(II) the population density of
the State in which the rural community
hospital is located.''.
(b) Change in Timing for Report.--Subsection (e) of such section
410A is amended--
(1) by striking ``Not later than 6 months after the
completion of the demonstration program under this section''
and inserting ``Not later than August 1, 2018''; and
(2) by striking ``such program'' and inserting ``the
demonstration program under this section''.
Passed the Senate January 20, 2016.
Attest:
JULIE E. ADAMS,
Secretary.