Sustaining Rural Healthcare Act
In committee: it can still change before the session ends.
- Stage
- In committee
- Started in
- House
- Sponsors
- 4
- Latest action
- Feb 26, 2026
What it does
The Sustaining Rural Healthcare Act would amend the Social Security Act to preserve the Medicare designation of certain critical access hospitals that would otherwise lose eligibility due to specific criteria, allowing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to extend their designation for up to three years if loss of designation would reduce healthcare access in their service area. The bill also creates a new discretionary authority for the Secretary to designate qualifying rural hospitals as “Critical Access in Character” to receive Medicare reimbursement at Critical Access Hospital rates, provided they serve underserved communities, face financial distress due to rural-specific…
No official summary is available here. This one was written by AI from the bill’s text.
Where it stands
Introduced (Done)
Committee (Current step)
Floor (Not started)
Law (Not started)
What moved
Who is involved
Sponsors
The lawmakers who put their names on it, lead sponsors first.
In the news
Reporting that may mention this subject. Possible matches are labeled.
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Where it goes next
While a bill can still move, the questions are about people and money.