Overview
- Sen. Josh Hawley introduced the Rural Hospital Emergency Room Guarantee Act on June 24, and Sen. Maggie Hassan joined as a lead cosponsor to make the measure bipartisan.
- The bill would require the Health Resources and Services Administration to run a dedicated 10-year program that delivers a guaranteed baseline payment of $1,000,000 per eligible rural emergency room each year.
- Participating hospitals could receive additional funding tied to local factors and one-time emergency payments of up to $250,000 for facilities at immediate risk of closure.
- The proposal requires hospitals to certify rural status, bars private-equity or venture-capital ownership from eligibility, and states that the guaranteed payments would not reduce eligibility for other federal health programs.
- Sponsors framed the plan as a response to a long-term collapse of rural care—nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed since 2005 and Missouri has seen a string of recent closures—and legislative and fiscal details remain unresolved as the bill awaits congressional consideration.