RURAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION

On 2026-05-20, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) delivered a floor speech titled "RURAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION" in the Senate.

RURAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 86 (Wednesday, May 20, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 86 (Wednesday, May 20, 2026)] [Senate] [Page S2428] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] RURAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be discharged from further consideration of S. 4460 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The senior assistant executive clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 4460) to provide for an extension of the rural community hospital demonstration program. There being no objection, the committee was discharged, and the Senate proceeded to consider the bill. Mr. BARRASSO. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The bill (S. 4460) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows: S. 4460 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 Program Reauthorization''. SEC. 2. FIVE-YEAR EXTENSION OF THE RURAL COMMUNITY HOSPITAL DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM. (a) In General.--Subsection (a)(5) of section 410A of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (Public Law 108-173; 42 U.S.C. 1395ww note), is amended by striking ``15-year extension period'' and inserting ``20-year extension period''. (b) Conforming Amendments for Extension.-- (1) Extension of demonstration period.--Subsection (g) of such section 410A is amended-- (A) in the subsection heading, by striking ``Fifteen-Year'' and inserting ``Twenty-Year''; (B) in paragraph (1)-- (i) by striking ``additional 15-year'' and inserting ``additional 20-year''; and (ii) by striking ``15-year extension period'' and inserting ``20-year extension period''; (C) in paragraph (2), by striking ``15-year extension period'' and inserting ``20-year extension period''; (D) in paragraph (3), by striking ``15-year extension period'' and inserting ``20-year extension period''; (E) in paragraph (4), by striking ``15-year extension period'' each place it appears and inserting ``20-year extension period''; (F) in paragraph (5), by striking ``15-year extension period'' each place it appears and inserting ``20-year extension period''; and (G) in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (6), by striking ``15- year extension period'' and inserting ``20-year extension period''. (2) Rule for hospitals that are not original participants in the demonstration.--Paragraph (5) of subsection (g) of such section 410A is amended-- (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``Additional extension'' and inserting ``CAA, 2021 extension''; and (B) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(C) Additional extension.--During the fourth 5 years of the 20-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 at any time during the period beginning on December 30, 2024, and ending on January 1, 2027, in a similar manner as such provisions apply to rural community hospitals described in paragraph (4).''. ____________________

Referenced legislation: S4460, S4460