Rural hospitals could get new Medicare payments for anesthesia care, helping them keep vital services.
This bill would change how Medicare pays for anesthesia services in certain rural and critical access hospitals. Instead of paying anesthesiologists through Medicare Part B on a per-service basis, Medicare Part A would pay these hospitals based on their actual costs. This aims to help these smaller, rural hospitals afford to provide anesthesia care.
Today, Medicare generally pays for anesthesia services provided by anesthesiologists under Part B, typically on a fee-for-service basis. If this bill passes, for certain rural and critical access hospitals, Medicare would instead pay for these services under Part A, based on the hospital's reasonable costs. This change would begin for cost reporting periods starting one year after the bill becomes law.
HR 9642 · 119th Congress · July 13, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 8/10
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