Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Congress has cleared a short-term spending bill that includes extensions of two programs aimed at helping rural hospitals, punting the issue and others into December (Source: “Congress Passes Short-Term Spending Bill that Extends Two Key Rural Hospital Programs,” Fierce Healthcare, September 30, 2022).
The House voted 230 to 201 to advance to President Biden’s desk a continuing resolution that funds the federal government through Friday, December 16. Biden is expected to sign the legislation.
The legislation also extends through Friday, December 16, the hospital payment adjustment for certain low-volume hospitals (LVH) and the Medicare-Dependent Hospital (MDH) program, which have helped shore up finances for rural hospitals that have been vulnerable to closures in recent years and strained further due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both programs were set to expire after September.