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S4233119th CongressWALLET

Save Struggling Hospitals Act

Sponsored By: Senator Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]

Introduced

Summary

Raise Medicare wage indexes for low-wage hospitals. This bill would add a new Medicare area wage index adjustment that increases the index for hospitals below the 25th percentile by half the gap to the 25th percentile, applied to discharges on or after October 1, 2019.

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  • Hospitals with an area wage index below the 25th percentile would get a boost equal to one-half of the difference between their index and the 25th percentile, increasing Medicare wage-related payments for those discharges.
  • The change must be budget neutral and includes limits on offsets. Adjustments for budget neutrality may not cut a hospital's area wage index if that hospital's index (measured without this rule) is below the 75th percentile, and such hospitals cannot receive less than 95 percent of their prior-year index.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Higher Medicare pay for low-wage hospitals

This bill would add a Medicare area wage index boost for some hospitals starting for discharges on or after October 1, 2019. Hospitals whose baseline area wage index is below the 25th percentile would get an increase equal to one-half of the gap to the 25th percentile for that fiscal year. The change would be applied in a budget-neutral way. For neutrality, adjustments could not lower a hospital's index if its baseline is below the 75th percentile, and no hospital's index could fall below 95 percent of its prior-year index.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Warner, Mark R. [D-VA]

VA • D

Cosponsors

  • Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN]

    TN • R

    Sponsored 3/26/2026

  • Sen. Hyde-Smith, Cindy [R-MS]

    MS • R

    Sponsored 3/26/2026

  • Sen. Tuberville, Tommy [R-AL]

    AL • R

    Sponsored 3/26/2026

  • Sen. Hagerty, Bill [R-TN]

    TN • R

    Sponsored 4/22/2026

  • Sen. Boozman, John [R-AR]

    AR • R

    Sponsored 5/11/2026

  • Sen. Wicker, Roger F. [R-MS]

    MS • R

    Sponsored 7/16/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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