A bill to open up federal funds for rural hospitals passed the Arkansas House on Thursday.
House Bill 1127, sponsored by Rep. Lee Johnson, allows hospitals to apply for the Rural Emergency Hospital designation to access federal dollars. The Rural Emergency Hospital designation allows rural hospitals to be reimbursed above the rate for Medicare for outpatient services. The House passed the bill on a 95-1 vote, and the bill will move to the Senate for consideration.
Hospitals under the designation would have to provide emergency care, observation care and outpatient services. Notably, the federal funds are not open to rural hospitals that provide inpatient care. The designation, approved by Congress in 2020, is aimed at providing financial relief to rural hospitals, which have shifted their focus to outpatient care.
“Because of the advances we’ve seen in medical care, more and more we’re needing to transfer patients from our rural facilities to our urban facilities,” said Johnson, a Republican from Greenwood.