Moolenaar, Huffman Introduce Legislation to Improve, Modernize Rural Health Care

This week, Congressman John Moolenaar and Congressman Jared Huffman (D-CA) introduced the Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act. The legislation would allow rural hospitals to use Medicare funding to hire physician anesthesiologists. Under current law, hospitals are only permitted to use Medicare funding to hire certified anesthesiologist assistants or nurse anesthetists.

"Rural Michigan residents deserve to have access to the highest quality health care available. That is why we must modernize Medicare's regulations and allow rural hospitals to recruit and pay physician anesthesiologists. Our commonsense, bipartisan legislation makes a small change to existing law to let these hospitals effectively use the funds already available to them and ensure Americans in rural communities can receive the anesthesia services they need, when they need them," said Moolenaar.

"Rural hospitals and health centers, like the many throughout my district, serve communities that would otherwise have no access to essential health care. But their remote locations present many unique challenges - including building and sustaining a strong workforce," saidRep. Huffman. "Our bill would remove barriers for anesthesiologists to participate in rural incentive programs that are a critical tool for rural medical facilities to attract and retain the staff they need to care for our communities."

The text of the Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act can be found here.