Summary#
This bill would change a Medicare program that gives grants to help small and rural providers. It was introduced on December 17, 2025, and referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. Sponsors include Carol Miller, Terri Sewell, Sanford Bishop, Shomari Figures, and Glenn Thompson.
Key changes in the bill text:
- Adds rural emergency hospitals to the list of providers eligible for support for quality improvement, reporting, performance, population health, behavioral health, and emergency response activities.
- Allows the Secretary of Health and Human Services to award grants or cooperative agreements that help other grant recipients carry out their work by providing technical assistance, data analysis, and evaluation.
- Changes some grant awards to be made to State Offices of Rural Health instead of directly to hospitals. It sets allocation of those funds so each State Office of Rural Health gets a share based on the number of eligible small rural hospitals in the State.
- Lets State Offices of Rural Health use grant funds to buy computer hardware and software for eligible small rural hospitals and to train staff on billing, operations, and quality improvement.
- Creates new 5-year "rural health transformation" grants for State Offices of Rural Health and eligible rural health care providers to support transitions to new models (for example, rural emergency hospitals, extended stay clinics, freestanding emergency departments, rural health clinics) and integration of behavioral and oral health and telehealth. Applicants must show local or State support and letters from key State payers and explain how the transition will meet local needs and be sustainable.
- Creates grants or cooperative agreements to provide technical assistance and data support to entities helping hospitals become, or designated as, rural emergency hospitals.
The bill adds definitions and expands who counts as an eligible rural health care provider (including critical access hospitals, rural health clinics, rural nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and other entities the Secretary identifies).
What it means for you#
- If you work at or run a small or rural hospital, rural clinic, or other eligible rural provider, the bill would create or expand grant programs that could fund training, software, hardware, and help with changing how services are delivered.
- State Offices of Rural Health could receive more direct grant funding and would be able to buy technology and train staff for hospitals in their State.
- Providers wanting to move to new care models (like rural emergency hospitals or extended-stay clinics) could apply for multi-year transformation grants, but applications must show local support and letters from key State payers.
- Organizations could get grants to provide technical assistance and data support for hospitals seeking rural emergency hospital designation.
Expenses#
No publicly available information on total funding amounts or appropriations in the bill text. The bill authorizes grant programs and sets how some grants would be allocated but does not specify overall funding levels or costs.
Proponents' View#
No publicly available information on supporters' arguments or statements in the bill text or provided metadata.
Opponents' View#
No publicly available information on opponents' arguments or statements in the bill text or provided metadata.