Title: Restoring Rural Residencies Act of 2019
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Restoring Rural Residencies Act of 2019
This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to reimburse medical residency training programs under Medicare for certain graduate medical education costs associated with resident time spent in rural community hospitals known as "critical access hospitals."

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1240 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1240

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count resident time 
    spent in a critical access hospital as resident time spent in a 
nonprovider setting for purposes of making Medicare direct and indirect 
                  graduate medical education payments.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 30, 2019

  Mr. Tester introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to count resident time 
    spent in a critical access hospital as resident time spent in a 
nonprovider setting for purposes of making Medicare direct and indirect 
                  graduate medical education payments.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Restoring Rural Residencies Act of 
2019''.

SEC. 2. COUNTING RESIDENT TIME SPENT IN A CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITAL AS 
              RESIDENT TIME SPENT IN A NONPROVIDER SETTING FOR PURPOSES 
              OF MAKING MEDICARE DIRECT AND INDIRECT GRADUATE MEDICAL 
              EDUCATION PAYMENTS.

    (a) GME.--Section 1886(h)(4) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395ww(h)(4)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (E), by striking ``subparagraphs (J) 
        and (K)'' and inserting ``subparagraphs (J), (K), and (L)''; 
        and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
                    ``(L) Treatment of critical access hospitals.--
                Effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or 
                after July 1, 2020, such rules shall provide that a 
                critical access hospital (as defined in section 
                1861(mm)(1)) is deemed to be a nonprovider setting for 
                purposes of determining the hospital's number of full-
                time equivalent residents under this subsection.''.
    (b) IME.--Section 1886(d)(5)(B)(iv)(II) of the Social Security Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(5)(B)(iv)(II)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following sentence: ``Effective for discharges occurring on or after 
July 1, 2020, for purposes of this subclause, a critical access 
hospital (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1)) is deemed to be a 
nonprovider setting.''.
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