126th Morrison Congress

2nd Session

H.R. 126-032

Title of the Bill: Hospital in Rural Area Act

Main Author(s): Rep. Edward Chou (D-FL) and Rep. Liberty Hsiung (D-MD)

Co-Sponsor(s):

BE IT ENACTED BY THE MORRISON CONGRESS

1 SECTION 1: Findings
2 Congress makes the following findings
3 1) 673 hospitals in rural areas are at risk for closure. (i)
4 2) Hospitals are closing facilities because they are not making money and the
5 ones that are, are serving low income people. (ii)
6 3) It takes a longer time for people in the rural areas to get to a hospital
7 because they have to go to the ones in the city. (ii)
8 4) Patients with conditions like heart attacks and strokes need to be brought to
9 hospitals in a limited amount of time thats called golden house. (iii)
10 5) More than 70 hospitals in rural areas have closed since 2010. (i)
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12 SECTION 2: Purpose
13 More doctors should be sent to hospitals in rural areas so they can remain open.
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15 SECTION 3: General Provisions
16 Hospitals in rural areas are at risk of being closed. The facilities are not making
17 money resulting in many hospitals closing down. Hospitals in different areas:
18 urban, rural, and city, are all providing for the people around there. Funds should
19 come from the state government. Rather than being tested by whether or not
20 they are profiting, these hospitals should have another type of assessment.
21 Maintaining hospitals in these places also help spread out the population. People
22 will feel safer and want to move to rural areas if there are hospitals near them.
23 Keeping the hospitals provides jobs for the medical staffs and employees. The
24 function of a hospital is to treat and save lives which should not be measured by
25 money.
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27 SECTION 4: Definitions
28 Rural: An area that is located outside of towns and cities and typically has a smaller
29 population.
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Works Cited:
(i): https://www.ruralhealthweb.org/news/nearly-700-rural-hospitals-at-risk-of-closing
(ii):
https://health.usnews.com/health-news/hospital-of-tomorrow/articles/2013/11/08/what-happe
ns-when-the-only-hospital-closes
(iii):
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/12/rural-hospital-closings-federal-reim
bursement-medicaid-aca/18532471/
(iv): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1702512/