# 119-s-502: Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025

119-s-502, Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-04-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-502
- As of: 2026-04-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-502
- Congress: 119
- Title: Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-10
- Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 7
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-04-21

## Summary

**Temporarily lets more small, rural hospitals become Medicare Critical Access Hospitals to help keep local services and stabilize finances.** It creates a new, limited pathway for eligible struggling hospitals that serve high-need communities and ties the change to studies and a nine-year sunset. - Small rural hospitals that serve Health Professional Shortage Areas or high-poverty counties and that had two consecutive years of financial losses can apply for the new CAH pathway. They must submit governance and multi-year solvency plans and commit to adding or maintaining a high-demand service such as obstetrics or behavioral health. - Patients and local communities may keep or regain services when nearby hospitals qualify for CAH payments that can improve short-term financial viability. New CAH hospitals must report on the added service and notify regulators of material changes. - The law limits new designations to 120 facilities nationwide and no more than 5 per State and sunsets the pathway after 9 years. It also directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)) to study impacts and requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue implementation guidance and transition rules.

## Cosponsors (7)

- Sen. Lankford, James [R-OK] (R-OK), 2025-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Smith, Tina [D-MN] (D-MN), 2025-02-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Capito, Shelley Moore [R-WV] (R-WV), 2025-02-24T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-04-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS] (R-MS), 2025-05-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA), 2025-10-27T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- GAO study on rural hospital designations: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would require the Government Accountability Office to study how the new State pathway was used. GAO must report within 6 years on which facilities were designated, their financial outlook tied to designation, any Medicare spending increases from designation, and whether the pat…
- Temporary state pathway for rural hospitals: benefit, medium. If enacted, this bill would let States certify some struggling rural hospitals so HHS can approve them as critical access hospitals (CAHs). Hospitals must be in a rural area, meet 2023 or 2024 poverty, shortage, or inpatient-day tests, show two straight years of negative operating margins, and appl…
- Payment study and transition for rural hospitals: mixed, medium. If enacted, the bill would direct MedPAC to study rural hospital payment systems using 2018–2028 data and report to Congress within 8 years. MedPAC must analyze payment features that keep Medicare sustainable and may recommend new payment models and transition impacts. The Secretary must also set u…

## Related bills

- 119-s-2296: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026
- 119-s-4784: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former United States Senator for the State of Kansas.
- 119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewellyn Kyl, former Senator for the State of Arizona.
- 119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham, a Senator from the State of South Carolina.

## Sources
- [119-s-502 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/502)

## Related
- [119-s-2296: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2296)
- [119-s-4784: National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2027](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4784)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [119-sres-913: A resolution relating to the death of the Honorable Nancy Kassebaum, former Uni…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-913)
- [119-sres-897: A resolution honoring the life, service, and legacy of the Honorable Jon Llewel…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-897)
- [119-sres-801: A resolution honoring the life and legacy of the Honorable Lindsey Olin Graham,…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-801)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-502 (as of 2026-04-21).