119 HR 6596 IH: To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the eligibility for the rural emergency hospital designation under the Medicare program. U.S. House of Representatives 2025-12-10 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I119th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 6596IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESDecember 10, 2025Mr. Schmidt (for himself and Mr. Estes) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and MeansA BILLTo amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to adjust the eligibility for the rural emergency hospital designation under the Medicare program.

1.

Adjusting eligibility for rural emergency hospital designation under Medicare

Section 1861(kkk)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(kkk)(3)) is amended—(1)in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking as of and inserting , at any point during the period beginning on January 1, 2015, and ending on;(2)in subparagraph (A), by striking or at the end;(3)in subparagraph (B), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; or; and(4)by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:(C)was an off-campus outpatient department of a hospital (as defined in section 1833(t)(21)(B)) that—(i)was a dedicated emergency department (as defined in section 489.24(b) of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations (or any successor regulation)); and(ii)was located in a county (or equivalent unit of local government) in a rural area (as defined in section 1886(d)(2)(D))..