United States · Bill · HR
H.R. 5481 (116th)
Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2019
Introduced
18 December 2019
Last action
18 December 2019 · Introduced
Status
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Sponsors
Adam Kinzinger, David Loebsack, Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19], Rodney Davis, Cynthia Axne, Frank Lucas, Tom Cole, Fred Keller, Rep. Walberg, Tim [R-MI-5], Jack Bergman, Angie Craig, Michael Guest, John Moolenaar, Sanford Bishop, Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4], Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7], Vicky Hartzler, Robert Aderholt, Troy Balderson, Cheri Bustos, Matt Cartwright, James Comer, Abby Finkenauer, TJ Cox
Subjects
Healthcare
Source updated
5 December 2025
Summary
Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2019 This bill 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 or Medicaid beneficiaries; (2) has experienced financial losses for two consecutive years; and (3) attests to having a strategic plan to address financial solvency.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
18 December 2019
Introduced
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Source: IntroReferral
18 December 2019
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
18 December 2019
Introduced
Introduced in House
Source: IntroReferral
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
- Introduced in House · 18 December 2019 · Official file
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House · EN · 18 December 2019
Introduced in House (PDF)
Introduced in House · EN · 18 December 2019
Introduced in House
summary · EN · 18 December 2019
Sponsors
- Adam Kinzinger · R · Sponsor
- David Loebsack · D · Sponsor
- Rep. Panetta, Jimmy [D-CA-19] · D · Sponsor
- Rodney Davis · R · Cosponsor
- Cynthia Axne · D · Cosponsor
- Frank Lucas · R · Cosponsor
- Tom Cole · R · Cosponsor
- Fred Keller · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Walberg, Tim [R-MI-5] · R · Cosponsor
- Jack Bergman · R · Cosponsor
- Angie Craig · D · Cosponsor
- Michael Guest · R · Cosponsor
- John Moolenaar · R · Cosponsor
- Sanford Bishop · D · Cosponsor
- Rep. Westerman, Bruce [R-AR-4] · R · Cosponsor
- Rep. Sewell, Terri A. [D-AL-7] · D · Cosponsor
- Vicky Hartzler · R · Cosponsor
- Robert Aderholt · R · Cosponsor
- Troy Balderson · R · Cosponsor
- Cheri Bustos · D · Cosponsor
- Matt Cartwright · D · Cosponsor
- James Comer · R · Cosponsor
- Abby Finkenauer · D · Cosponsor
- TJ Cox · D · Cosponsor
- · hswm00 · Standing
Related records
- related to → Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2019
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5481
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/116/hr/5481
- us · 116-hr-5481 · source updated 5 December 2025