Requires many hospitals to re-prove their rural status to keep Medicare funding.
This bill would make it harder for some hospitals to be seen as rural under Medicare. Hospitals currently treated as rural would need to re-prove they qualify by October 1, 2029. It would also stop hospitals from getting two rural classifications, which affects their Medicare payments.
Today, hospitals can apply to change their geographic status under Medicare. Some can be treated as rural or seek changes through a review board. After this bill, many hospitals would need to re-prove their rural status by October 1, 2029. City hospitals would face tougher rules for rural reclassification. Also, hospitals already treated as rural would be blocked from getting more reclassifications from the review board starting October 1, 2026.
HR 7409 · 119th Congress · February 5, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 9/10
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6 filings mentioned this bill
Amounts reflect total quarterly lobbying spend reported to the Senate, not bill-specific spending. Source: Senate LDA filings.