Press Releases

Congressman Jodey Arrington (TX-19) led a letter to House leadership with twenty of his colleagues urging an immediate extension of expired Medicare payment programs that support rural hospitals and help protect local access to health care for millions of Americans. CLICK HERE TO READ THE LETTER The Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and Low-Volume Adjustment (LVA) programs and the Ambulance Add-on adjustment, which expired in 2017, help account for the unique challenges rural hospitals and communities face. “Without local access to health care services, residents and the economy in rural America will suffer,” Arrington wrote. “Access to local hospital services can be the difference between life and death for not just the nearly 57 million people living in rural and remote areas across the country, but all those who travel through these regions.” The Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and Low-Volume Adjustment (LVA) programs, the Ambulance Add-on payments, and other critical programs for rural hospitals and patients have strong bipartisan, bicameral support. In addition to sending the letter, Arrington has authored budget-neutral legislation aimed at preventing rural hospital closures by extending the Low-Volume Adjustment Program and the Medicare Dependent Hospital Program. The Healthcare Enhancement for America’s Rural Towns (HEART) Act would extend the Medicare Low-Volume Adjustment program for two years and for the first time, would permanently extend the Medicare Dependent Hospital program. You can click HERE for more information on the legislation.

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