PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jan 26, 2009
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.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
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.
People & committees
Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · R–IA
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S835-836)
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 14, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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