# 119-s-552: CRITICAL Act

119-s-552, CRITICAL Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-AK); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2025-12-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-552
- As of: 2025-12-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-552
- Congress: 119
- Title: CRITICAL Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-02-12
- Sponsor: Sen. Sullivan, Dan [R-AK] (R-AK)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2025-12-21

## Summary

**Creates targeted 105% Medicare rates for Critical Access Hospitals in Alaska and Hawaii.** The CRITICAL Act would raise the Medicare payment rate from 101% to 105% for certain services furnished on or after January 1, 2026. - Critical Access Hospitals in Alaska and Hawaii would be paid 105% instead of 101% of the applicable Medicare rate for inpatient and outpatient CAH services beginning January 1, 2026. - Ambulance services furnished by those CAHs or entities they own and operate would receive 105% instead of 101% of the applicable Medicare rate for services on or after January 1, 2026. - Skilled nursing facility services furnished under an agreement under section 1883(a)(3) by CAHs in noncontiguous states would be paid 105% instead of 101% for services on or after January 1, 2026.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Schatz, Brian [D-HI] (D-HI), 2025-02-12T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Higher Medicare payments for remote hospitals: benefit, low. If enacted, this bill would raise certain Medicare payment multipliers for critical access hospitals in noncontiguous States to 105% instead of 101% for services furnished on or after January 1, 2026. The increase would apply to inpatient and outpatient critical access hospital services, ambulance…

## Related bills

- 119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026
- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-s-306: Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-4638: Promoting Strong Native Families and Children Act

## Sources
- [119-s-552 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/552)

## Related
- [119-s-524: Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-524)
- [119-s-3923: Weather Research and Forecasting Innovation Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3923)
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [119-s-306: Fire Ready Nation Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-306)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-4638: Promoting Strong Native Families and Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4638)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-552 (as of 2025-12-21).