Rural Health Improvement Act of 1995

Summary

Rural Health Improvement Act of 1995 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to replace the essential access community hospital (EACH) program with grants to States for Medicare rural hospital flexibility programs for the purpose of: (1) ensuring rural community access to health care services through designated critical access hospitals limiting the scope of available inpatient acute care services; (2) providing more appropriate and flexible staffing and licensure standards; (3) enhancing hospital financial security by requiring Medicare reimbursement on a reasonable cost basis; and (4) promoting linkages between such hospitals and broader programs for development and transition to integrated provider networks. Specifies requirements of such a program. Continues payments to designated EACHs. Authorizes appropriations. Makes various specified amendments under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) related to rural primary care and critical access hospitals. Creates within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) an Assistant Secretary for Rural Health to: (1) head an independent Office of Rural Health Policy; and (2) report directly to the HHS Secretary on the implications of national health care reforms for rural areas. Expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) use of telemedicine services can increase rural resident access to specialized health services; and (2) although such services are furnished to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide, service providers are not reimbursed for them under Medicare. Makes it the purpose of this Act to improve rural Medicare beneficiary access to such services by requiring Medicare reimbursement for them pursuant to a methodology developed by the HHS Secretary and submitted to the Congress.

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Documents

3 official files

• Introduced in Senate (text)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 23 June 1995

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• Introduced in Senate (PDF)

  Introduced in Senate · EN · 23 June 1995

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• Introduced in Senate

  summary · EN · 23 June 1995

  Open at official source

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