WASHINGTON, DC B U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), co-Chairman of the Senate Rural Health Care Caucus, today said his legislation to improve rural health care will strengthen the rural health delivery system and provide relief to hospitals and other providers serving rural Americans.

Senator Roberts, and Senators Al Franken (D-MN), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) have introduced S. 2359, the Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act (R-HoPE) to honor the service of the late Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.). You can read a summary of the bill here and download a copy of the bill here.

“The R-HoPE Act recognizes that rural health care providers have very different needs than their urban counterparts and that health care is not one-size-fits-all,” said Roberts, co-chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus. “I am glad we were able to include provisions to get rid of Medicare’s ‘condition of payment’ known as the burdensome 96-hour rule, which is particularly troubling for critical access hospitals and in turn, their patients.”

The bill makes changes to Medicare regulations for rural hospitals and providers, recognizing the difficulty in achieving the same economies of scale as large urban facilities. It also equalizes Medicare=s disproportionate share hospital payments to bring rural hospitals in line with urban facilities and provides additional assistance for small, rural hospitals that have a low-volume of patients. Often, these hospitals have trouble making ends meet under the Medicare payment system.

The provision to end Medicare’s 96 hour rule requiring a physician in a Critical Access Hospital to certify upon admission that each patient will be discharged or transferred in less than 96 hours is similar to a standalone piece of legislation Sen. Roberts has championed, the Critical Access Hospital Relief Act of 2014.

Sen. Roberts is honored to follow Sen. Thomas as Co-Chairman of the Senate Rural Health Caucus. Roberts is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and is a member of the Senate Committee on Finance which has jurisdiction on Medicare.