HYDE-SMITH WELCOMES SENATE PASSAGE OF RURAL HOSPITAL LEGISLATION

HYDE-SMITH WELCOMES SENATE PASSAGE OF RURAL HOSPITAL LEGISLATION

Miss. Senator Cosponsored Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act to Extend Program Used by Six Mississippi Hospitals

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today praised Senate passage of bipartisan legislation she cosponsored to reauthorize a federal health program that currently supports six rural Mississippi Hospitals.

The Senate late Wednesday approved the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Reauthorization Act (S.4460) by unanimous consent, making it available for consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives.

"This is an important bill to sustain a program that has a proven track record of helping steady the finances of rural hospitals so they can keep their doors open. We now need the House of Representatives to follow suit to keep this option available for hospitals in Mississippi and elsewhere," said Hyde-Smith, who serves on the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

Introduced by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), S.4460 includes a five-year reauthorization of the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD) program that would allow rural hospitals to continue using innovative Medicare hospital payment models that improve financial sustainability and support health care access.

Hyde-Smith joined Grassley in the past to get the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Biden administration to enroll more rural hospitals in RCHD, as authorized by Congress.

In November 2024, CMS agreed to enroll additional hospitals, which led to Greenwood Leflore Hospital, Magee General Hospital, and Wayne General Hospital joining the program in April 2025. Other RCHD hospitals in Mississippi include Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian, Highland Community Hospital in Picayune, and Marion General Hospital in Columbia.

The most recent performance data found that new RCHD hospitals significantly improved their Medicare margins and had higher capital investments, resulting in stronger financial conditions and helping with staff retention. These hospitals are mostly paid using a reasonable cost-based methodology instead of the inpatient prospective payment system.

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