Skip to content
PoliticalRepoPoliticalRepo

United States · Bill · S

S. 816 (108th)

Health Care Access and Rural Equity Act of 2003

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

8 April 2003

Last action

8 April 2003 · Introduced

Status

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Sponsors

Sen. Conrad, Kent [D-ND], Sen. Thomas, Craig [R-WY], Sen. Harkin, Tom [D-IA], Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA], Sen. Smith, Gordon H. [R-OR], Sen. Rockefeller, John D., IV [D-WV], Sen. Roberts, Pat [R-KS], Sen. Daschle, Thomas A. [D-SD], Sen. Dorgan, Byron L. [D-ND], Sen. Domenici, Pete V. [R-NM], Sen. Lincoln, Blanche L. [D-AR], Sen. Burns, Conrad R. [R-MT], Sen. Bingaman, Jeff [D-NM], Sen. Jeffords, James M. [I-VT], Sen. Johnson, Tim [D-SD], Sen. Levin, Carl [D-MI], Sen. Talent, Jim [R-MO], Sen. Dayton, Mark [D-MN], Sen. Bond, Christopher S. [R-MO], Sen. Edwards, John [D-NC], Sen. Cochran, Thad [R-MS], Sen. Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR], Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA], Sen. Snowe, Olympia J. [R-ME], Sen. Coleman, Norm [R-MN], Sen. Cantwell, Maria [D-WA], Sen. Leahy, Patrick J. [D-VT], Sen. Inouye, Daniel K. [D-HI], Sen. Inhofe, James M. [R-OK], Sen. Stabenow, Debbie [D-MI], Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME], Sen. Hagel, Chuck [R-NE], Sen. Enzi, Michael B. [R-WY], Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID], Sen. Warner, John [R-VA]

Subjects

Healthcare

Source updated

18 August 2025

Healthcare

Official sourceDownload fileView documentsShare

Summary

Health Care Access and Rural Equity Act of 2003 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to make a variety of changes with regard to rural health care and such matters as: (1) urban and rural standardized payment amounts under the Medicare inpatient hospital prospective payment system (PPS); (2) disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment for rural hospitals; (3) payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals; (4) adjustment to the Medicare inpatient hospital PPS wage index to revise the labor-related share of such index; (5) treatment of certain sole community hospitals to limit the decline in payment under the PPS for hospital outpatient department services; (6) the critical access hospital program; and (7) permanent treatment of certain physician pathology services under Medicare. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to publish and use alternative guidelines for geographic reclassification of certain hospitals located in sparsely populated States. Amends the Public Health Service Act to give the Secretary the authority to make and guarantee loans from the loan fund to any rural entity for projects for capital improvements. Amends SSA title XVIII to provide for a five-year extension of the authorization for appropriations for certain Medicare rural grants.

This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.

Timeline

  1. 8 April 2003

    Introduced

    Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

    Source: IntroReferral

  2. 8 April 2003

    Introduced

    Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4962-4963)

    Source: IntroReferral

  3. 8 April 2003

    Introduced

    Introduced in Senate

    Source: IntroReferral

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

Documents

3 official files

Introduced in Senate (text)

View fileDownload file

This file cannot be previewed here. Use View or Download.

Leesvertaling

Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.

Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

  • Introduced in Senate (text)

    Introduced in Senate · EN · 8 April 2003

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

  • Introduced in Senate (PDF)

    Introduced in Senate · EN · 8 April 2003

    ViewDownloadOpen at official source

    Leesvertaling

    Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.

    Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

  • Introduced in Senate

    summary · EN · 8 April 2003

    Open at official source

    Leesvertaling

    Vertaal dit document naar jouw taal. PoliticalRepo bewaart geen aparte kopie per EU-taal.

    Documentvertaling op verzoek met downloadbare PDF (logo + link naar de officiële bron). Het bronbestand blijft leidend.

Sponsors

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.

Sources

PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.