[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 22]
[House]
[Page 30658]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               MEDICARE CONFERENCE REPORT'S RURAL PACKAGE

  (Mr. GINGREY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GINGREY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the rural 
package provided for in the House-Senate Medicare agreement. The 
package corrects existing inequities for rural and small town hospitals 
and providers by equalizing the disproportionate reimbursement payments 
they have been experiencing in the past.
  Rural hospitals' base payment rate will be permanently extended by 
1.6 percent to match the urban hospital payment rate and the amount of 
disproportionate share payments will be more than doubled to 12 percent 
of total Medicare inpatient payments.
  The bill additionally pays cost plus 1 percent to the Critical Access 
Hospitals to ensure that they can improve access and services.
  And that, Mr. Speaker, is exactly the purpose of the rural package: 
To provide immediate help to rural area and small city hospitals so 
that they can provide sustained access and quality service to their 
patients.
  Our seniors deserve nothing less than that, and I urge my colleagues 
to vote in favor of our Nation's rural hospitals. Pass the Medicare 
conference report.

                          ____________________