H.R. 6596

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6596 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6596

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the 
eligibility for the rural emergency hospital designation under the 
Medicare program.

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IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 10, 2025

Mr. Schmidt (for himself and Mr. Estes) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

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A BILL

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the 
eligibility for the rural emergency hospital designation under the 
Medicare program.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ADJUSTING ELIGIBILITY FOR RURAL EMERGENCY HOSPITAL 
DESIGNATION UNDER MEDICARE.

Section 1861(kkk)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395x(kkk)(3)) is amended--
(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 
``as of'' and inserting ``, at any point during the period 
beginning on January 1, 2015, and ending on'';
(2) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``or'' at the end;
(3) in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end 
and inserting ``; or''; and
(4) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(C) was an off-campus outpatient department of a hospital 
(as defined in section 1833(t)(21)(B)) that--
``(i) was a dedicated emergency department (as 
defined in section 489.24(b) of title 42, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation)); and
``(ii) was located in a county (or equivalent unit 
of local government) in a rural area (as defined in 
section 1886(d)(2)(D)).''.
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