[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3444 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3444

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide flexibility 
  in the manner in which beds are counted for purposes of determining 
  whether a hospital may be designated as a critical access hospital 
                      under the Medicare program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 30, 2013

 Mr. Walden (for himself and Mr. Kind) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide flexibility 
  in the manner in which beds are counted for purposes of determining 
  whether a hospital may be designated as a critical access hospital 
                      under the Medicare 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 ``Critical Access Hospital Flexibility 
Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. FLEXIBILITY IN THE MANNER IN WHICH BEDS ARE COUNTED FOR 
              PURPOSES OF DETERMINING WHETHER A HOSPITAL MAY BE 
              DESIGNATED AS A CRITICAL ACCESS HOSPITAL UNDER THE 
              MEDICARE PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--Section 1820(c)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395i-4(c)(2)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (B)(iii), by inserting ``subject to 
        subparagraph (F),'' before ``provides not more''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(F) Alternative bed number determination.--
                            ``(i) 20-bed alternative.--In the case of a 
                        facility that was designated as a critical 
                        access hospital before the date of the 
                        enactment of the Critical Access Hospital 
                        Flexibility Act of 2013, such facility may 
                        satisfy the requirement under subparagraph 
                        (B)(iii) by providing inpatient care for a 
                        period that does not exceed, as determined on 
                        an annual, average basis, 96 hours per patient 
                        and by--
                                    ``(I) providing not more than 25 
                                acute care inpatient beds (meeting the 
                                standards established by the Secretary 
                                under such subparagraph); or
                                    ``(II) providing not more than 20 
                                acute care inpatient beds (as 
                                determined on an annual, average basis 
                                and meeting any applicable standards 
                                established by the Secretary under such 
                                subparagraph which do not conflict with 
                                this subclause).
                            ``(ii) Occupied beds only.--In determining 
                        the number of beds for purposes of clause (i) 
                        and subparagraph (B)(iii), only beds that are 
                        occupied shall be counted.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section take 
effect on January 1, 2014.
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