S. 318: Medicare Rural Health Access Improvement Act of 2009
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S. 318: Medicare Rural Health Access Improvement Act of 2009
111th Congress · introduced 2009-01-26 · Health · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
federal
Follow this bill, step by step
- Where it came from: introduced 2009-01-26 · official record
- Who proposed it: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · what a sponsor is
- What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
- Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
- If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.
Official title
Medicare Rural Health Access Improvement Act of 2009
Plain summary
Medicare Rural Health Access Improvement Act of 2009 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to: (1) extend Medicare flex grants; (2) revise requirements for the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program; (3) revise the Medicare inpatient hospital payment adjustment for low-volume hospitals; (4) eliminate temporarily the disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment cap; and (5) extend and revise the Medicare hold harmless provision under the prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital outpatient department (HOPD) services for certain hospitals. Revises requirements for the treatment of rural sole community hospitals and Medicare dependent, small rural hospitals under the PPS for HOPD services. Provides for recognition of equality of physician work in all geographic areas under the Medicare physician fee schedule. Revises the practice expense geographic adjustment under the Medicare physician fee schedule. Extends the treatment of certain physician pathology services, and increased Medicare payments for rural ground ambulance services. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to set $92 as the maximum rate of payment per visit in 2010 for independent rural health clinics. Requires the Secretary to exempt from competitive acquisition requirements rural areas and small metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) with a population of 600,000 or less. Permits physician assistants to order post-hospital extended care services. Recognizes attending physician assistants as attending physicians for the purpose of serving hospice patients.
Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.
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What does this mean? (plain words)
Official text
Medicare Rural Health Access Improvement Act of 2009
Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes
Officials and money
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · 1 cosponsors
Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.
Cosponsors on this site
Susan M. Collins (R-ME)
Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] reported raising $527,998 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.
No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.
Words on this page, explained (2)
- Exemption
- A rule that removes certain people, property or activities from a tax or requirement.
- Securities
- Financial investments that can be bought and sold, such as stocks and bonds.
Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.
Sources
- Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
- Congress.gov
- Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-111s318.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/111/s>
Record fed-us-cong111-s318 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong111 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong111