Rural Hospital Frontier Fairness Act

Rural Hospital Frontier Fairness Act

This bill alters the Medicare prospective payment system for inpatient hospital services furnished at sole community hospitals (i.e., rural hospitals or hospitals that are the sole source of inpatient care in a certain geographic area). Specifically, the bill applies a minimum area wage adjustment to payments to sole community hospitals that are located up to 75 miles from the closest frontier (i.e., predominantly rural) state. Currently, the minimum area wage adjustment applies only to hospitals in frontier states.

The bill also allows such sole community hospitals to participate in the 340B drug pricing program (i.e., a program that allows entities to receive covered outpatient drugs at reduced prices from manufacturers).

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1323 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1323

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend the floor on 
 the area wage index under the inpatient prospective payment system to 
certain sole community hospitals and to amend the Public Health Service 
  Act to provide eligibility for certain sole community hospitals to 
      discounted drug prices under the 340B drug pricing program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 22, 2019

  Mr. Peterson (for himself and Mr. Tipton) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
  in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend the floor on 
 the area wage index under the inpatient prospective payment system to 
certain sole community hospitals and to amend the Public Health Service 
  Act to provide eligibility for certain sole community hospitals to 
      discounted drug prices under the 340B drug pricing program.

    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 ``Rural Hospital Frontier Fairness 
Act''.

SEC. 2. EXTENDING FLOOR ON AREA WAGE INDEX TO CERTAIN SOLE COMMUNITY 
              HOSPITALS.

    Section 1886(d)(3)(E)(iii) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
1395ww(d)(3)(E)(iii)) is amended--
            (1) in subclause (I), by inserting before the period at the 
        end the following: ``and, for discharges occurring on or after 
        October 1, 2019, the area wage index applicable under this 
        subparagraph to any sole community hospital that is located not 
        more than 75 miles from the closest frontier State and that 
        makes an election under subclause (V) may not be less than 
        1.00''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new subclause:
                                    ``(V) Sole community hospital 
                                election.--The Secretary shall provide 
                                for a process under which a sole 
                                community hospital described in 
                                subclause (I) may elect, at such time 
                                and in such manner as specified by the 
                                Secretary, to apply subclause (I) to 
                                such sole community hospital.''.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF CERTAIN SOLE COMMUNITY HOSPITALS FOR DISCOUNTED 
              DRUG PRICES UNDER THE 340B DRUG PRICING PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 340B(a)(4) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 256b(a)(4)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
                    ``(P) An entity that is a sole community hospital 
                (as defined in section 1886(d)(5)(C)(iii) of the Social 
                Security Act), that was classified as such a hospital 
                before October 1, 2015, and that is located not more 
                than 75 miles from the closest frontier State (as 
                defined in section 1886(d)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of such 
                Act).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
        apply to drugs purchased on or after the first day of the first 
        month that begins more than 60 days after the date of the 
        enactment of this Act.
            (2) Conforming 340b agreements.--The Secretary of Health 
        and Human Services shall provide for such timely modification 
        of agreements entered into under section 340B of the Public 
        Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 256b) as is necessary to provide 
        for the application of the amendment made by subsection (a) on 
        a timely basis consistent with paragraph (1).
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