# 119-hr-10293: Rural Emergency Hospital Designation Improvement Act 119-hr-10293, Rural Emergency Hospital Designation Improvement Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-10). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10293 - As of: 2026-10-10 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: 119-hr-10293 - Congress: 119 - Title: Rural Emergency Hospital Designation Improvement Act - Status: introduced - Introduced: 2026-09-03 - Sponsor: Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI) - Cosponsors: 7 - Policy area: Health - Touches household money: yes - Last recorded action: 2026-10-10 ## Summary **Expands access to rural emergency hospitals** by loosening eligibility and aligning Medicare, Medicaid, payment, and workforce rules so more rural facilities can convert and offer more services. - Rural patients would get more local care options including inpatient behavioral health, inpatient rehabilitation, and obstetric units, plus extended post-acute care through swing-bed agreements. - Rural hospitals and health systems could qualify across a broader time window beginning Jan 1, 2015 and regulators could waive certain eligibility rules to allow similar facilities to convert to rural emergency hospital status. - Medicare would include a 5% add-on to laboratory payments for tests performed by rural emergency hospitals starting Jan 1, 2027, REHs could be paid for extended care on a cost-proxy basis, they would become eligible for small rural hospital grants, and REHs would be deemed for Health Professional Shortage Area status to access HRSA workforce programs. ## Cosponsors (7) - Rep. Mann, Tracey [R-KS-1] (R-KS), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3] (D-KS), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Bergman, Jack [R-MI-1] (R-MI), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Miller, Carol D. [R-WV-1] (R-WV), 2026-09-03T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1] (D-NM), 2026-09-08T00:00:00.000Z - Rep. Schmidt, Derek [R-KS-2] (R-KS), 2026-09-15T00:00:00.000Z ## Provisions PRIA read - Local post-acute care at rural hospitals: benefit, medium. If enacted, a rural emergency hospital could enter an agreement with the Secretary to provide extended care services that otherwise would be provided by a skilled nursing facility. Payment to the REH for those services would be based on reasonable cost under existing hospital cost-reimbursement rul… - Medicaid coverage for rural hospital services: benefit, medium. If enacted, Medicaid's mandatory coverage would explicitly include rural emergency hospital services that are licensed or approved by the State and services in nursing facility distinct-part units of an REH. The change would apply on the date of enactment. States that require new state legislation… - New inpatient units at rural hospitals: benefit, medium. If enacted, rural emergency hospitals would be allowed to include separately licensed inpatient psychiatric units, inpatient rehabilitation units, and obstetric units (including labor and delivery or obstetric emergency departments). Each unit must be a distinct-part licensed unit inside the facili… - 5% higher Medicare lab pay for rural hospitals: benefit, low. If enacted, Medicare payment for qualifying clinical diagnostic lab tests furnished by rural emergency hospitals would be increased by 5 percent for tests on or after January 1, 2027. Any beneficiary copayment for those tests would be applied as if the 5 percent add-on did not exist, so patient cos… - Easier rural emergency hospital conversions: benefit, low. If enacted, the bill would widen when a facility can meet the timing rule for rural emergency hospital (REH) designation by using a window beginning January 1, 2015. The Secretary would have to issue rules within one year to allow waivers so facilities that operate like REHs can convert. The Secret… - More workforce and grants for rural hospitals: benefit, low. If enacted, the HHS Secretary would be required to treat rural emergency hospitals as health professional shortage areas for HRSA workforce programs like the National Health Service Corps. The bill would also make REHs eligible for Small Rural Hospital Improvement Program grants. These steps would… ## Related bills - 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026 - 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025 - 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025 - 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025 - 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act - 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act ## Sources - [119-hr-10293 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/10293) ## Related - [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877) - [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669) - [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206) - [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151) - [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262) - [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842) - [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-10293 (as of 2026-10-10).