Physician Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act
Sponsored By: Senator James Lankford
Introduced
Summary
Creates a new "covered rural hospital" category and changes how physician self-referral rules apply to physician-owned hospitals in rural areas. The bill would let certain rural hospitals that enroll in Medicare (Title XVIII of the Social Security Act) meet a narrow set of criteria that changes which self-referral exemptions apply, and it would lift a ban on certain hospital expansions starting on the date of enactment.
Show full summary
- Rural hospitals and communities: Hospitals located in rural areas that enroll in Medicare and meet the specified criteria could be designated as "covered rural hospitals," which changes how self-referral exemptions apply to them. This affects which physician-investment arrangements are treated as exempt.
- Physician-owners and hospital investors: The bill would add a sunset to the expansion prohibition, allowing physician-owned hospitals to expand beginning on the date of enactment for the covered category, subject to the bill's criteria.
- Medicare program and enrollment rules: The law would amend the Medicare statute to add a definition of "covered rural hospital" and to clarify that meeting the listed criteria does not require meeting other unrelated criteria under section 1820(c)(2)(B).
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Allows physician-owned hospitals to expand
If enacted, the bill would end the statutory ban on expanding physician-owned hospitals starting on the date of enactment. Physician owners would be able to grow or add facilities that were previously restricted. This change could affect investor and hospital expansion plans that interact with Medicare enrollment.
New rules for covered rural hospitals
If enacted, the bill would create a new "covered rural hospital" category for Medicare referral rules. A hospital would be covered if it is in a rural area and met specific enrollment criteria when it joined Medicare. The bill would also remove two existing Medicare self-referral exemptions for those covered rural hospitals. That means some physician-owned rural hospitals would lose those exemptions and face new limits on physician referrals under Medicare.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
James Lankford
OK • R
Cosponsors
Roger Marshall
KS • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
Bill Cassidy
LA • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
Thomas Tillis
NC • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
John Cornyn
TX • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
Markwayne Mullin
OK • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
John Boozman
AR • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
John Barrasso
WY • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
Ted Budd
NC • R
Sponsored 4/9/2025
James Justice
WV • R
Sponsored 5/14/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
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