# 119-hr-2191: Physician Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act

119-hr-2191, Physician Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Griffith, H. Morgan [R-VA-9] (R-VA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-30).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2191
- As of: 2026-10-30
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-2191
- Congress: 119
- Title: Physician Led and Rural Access to Quality Care Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-03-18
- Sponsor: Rep. Griffith, H. Morgan [R-VA-9] (R-VA)
- Cosponsors: 34
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-30

## Summary

**This bill would revise Medicare's physician self-referral rules and create a new "covered rural hospital" category.** It would allow physician-owned hospitals to expand while excluding certain rural hospitals from the exemption. - Defines "covered rural hospital" as a hospital in a rural area that is more than a 35-mile drive from another hospital or critical access hospital, or more than 15 miles in mountainous terrain or where only secondary roads exist. - Establishes a sunset of the federal prohibition on expansion for physician-owned hospitals, so those hospitals would be able to expand upon enactment. - Changes who qualifies for the physician self-referral exemption, which could increase physician-owned hospital capacity outside covered rural hospitals and affect local Medicare patient options.

## Cosponsors (34)

- Rep. Hern, Kevin [R-OK-1] (R-OK), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Gonzalez, Vicente [D-TX-34] (D-TX), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Joyce, John [R-PA-13] (R-PA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Correa, J. Luis [D-CA-46] (D-CA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Balderson, Troy [R-OH-12] (R-OH), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Valadao, David G. [R-CA-22] (R-CA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pfluger, August [R-TX-11] (R-TX), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dunn, Neal P. [R-FL-2] (R-FL), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Davis, Donald G. [D-NC-1] (D-NC), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Yakym, Rudy [R-IN-2] (R-IN), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Weber, Randy K. Sr. [R-TX-14] (R-TX), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Miller-Meeks, Mariannette [R-IA-1] (R-IA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Scott, Austin [R-GA-8] (R-GA), 2025-03-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McCormick, Richard [R-GA-7] (R-GA), 2025-03-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2] (R-SC), 2025-03-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Harris, Andy [R-MD-1] (R-MD), 2025-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Van Duyne, Beth [R-TX-24] (R-TX), 2025-04-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sessions, Pete [R-TX-17] (R-TX), 2025-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Evans, Gabe [R-CO-8] (R-CO), 2025-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI), 2025-04-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Onder, Robert F. [R-MO-3] (R-MO), 2025-04-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Higgins, Clay [R-LA-3] (R-LA), 2025-04-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bice, Stephanie I. [R-OK-5] (R-OK), 2025-05-13T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Spartz, Victoria [R-IN-5] (R-IN), 2025-06-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bera, Ami [D-CA-6] (D-CA), 2025-06-06T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Cloud, Michael [R-TX-27] (R-TX), 2025-07-14T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Johnson, Julie [D-TX-32] (D-TX), 2025-09-18T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kennedy, Mike [R-UT-3] (R-UT), 2025-10-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Moran, Nathaniel [R-TX-1] (R-TX), 2025-10-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Sorensen, Eric [D-IL-17] (D-IL), 2026-10-26T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Smucker, Lloyd [R-PA-11] (R-PA), 2025-10-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Rulli, Michael A. [R-OH-6] (R-OH), 2025-11-17T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1] (R-GA), 2025-11-19T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4] (R-UT), 2026-04-28T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New rules for rural physician-owned hospitals: benefit, low. If enacted, Medicare would define a "covered rural hospital." A hospital would qualify if it is in a rural area and more than a 35-mile drive from another hospital or a critical access hospital, or 15 miles in mountains or where only secondary roads exist. The bill would say that two parts of the p…
- Physician-owned hospitals could expand again: benefit, low. If enacted, the current ban on expansions by physician-owned hospitals would end. The change would start on the date this new paragraph is enacted. The bill also updates cross-references so the law points to the new rule.

## Related bills

- 119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act
- 119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hr-452: Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-2191 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/2191)

## Related
- [119-hr-842: Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage A…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-842)
- [119-hr-1628: 761st Tank Battalion Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1628)
- [119-hr-1502: North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1502)
- [119-hr-452: Miracle on Ice Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-452)
- [119-hr-3514: Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3514)
- [119-hr-4382: America’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Commemorative Coins Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4382)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2191 (as of 2026-10-30).