PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 23, 2002
Revitalizing Underserved Rural Areas and Localities (RURAL) Act of 2002 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with respect to the Medicare inpatient hospital prospective payment system and rural and small urban areas. Provides for acceleration of the rate of reduction of beneficiary copayment liability under the Medicare hospital outpatient department prospective payment system.Includes certain other measures designed to assist rural areas. Provides for a full market basket increase in FY 2003 for Medicare hospitals in rural and small urban areas. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to increase the payment amount for home health services furnished in a frontier or rural area from April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2006.Revises requirements with respect to critical access hospitals, providing coverage of costs for certain emergency room on-call providers. Provides for coverage of air ambulance services, including services requested by a Federal or State agency to relocate patients following a natural disaster, an act of war, or a terrorist attack.
People & committees
Sen. Baucus, Max [D-MT] · D–MT
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S4843-4844)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 19, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze S.2555 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine S.2555 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine S.2555 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine S.2555 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.