Save Struggling Hospitals Act

This bill would write into federal law a Medicare payment policy for hospitals in areas with low wages. For hospital discharges on or after October 1, 2019, a hospital whose area wage index is below the 25th percentile would have its index raised by half the gap between its index and the 25th percentile. The change must be budget neutral, meaning total Medicare spending would not increase. Any offsetting cuts could not lower the index for hospitals below the 75th percentile, and could not drop any hospital's index below 95 percent of its prior-year level.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• David Kustoff Republican sponsor
• 6 cosponsors