Kansas Congressman Jake LaTurner introduces The Rural Emergency Hospital Adjustment Act in the U.S. House.

 The legislation would allow previously closed rural hospitals to re-open and apply for the Rural Emergency Hospital designation if they can demonstrate they met all eligibility requirements. Senator Jerry Moran has introduced similar legislation in the U.S. Senate. The R-E-H designation enables certain hospitals to convert to the new Medicare provider designation, which helps rural hospitals to continue operating with limited services rather than closing. Currently, hospitals are only eligible for the designation if they met the requirements when the legislation was signed into law in December 2020.

The R-E-H would extend the eligibility date back to January 1, 2015, for hospitals that were either critical access hospitals or rural hospitals with no more than 50 beds.