This Act may be cited as the Rural Hospital Fairness Act.

Section 1820(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395iU.S. Code — Title 42, Section 1395iView official source on GovInfo–4(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: (4) Continuation of CAH status for certain facilities (A) In general A facility described in subparagraph (B) that does not meet the location requirement under subsection (c)(2)(B)(i)(I) (and was not certified by the State as being a necessary provider of health care services to residents in the area under subsection (c)(2)(B)(i)(II)) shall be deemed to have been certified by the Secretary under subsection (e) as a critical access hospital so long as such facility is otherwise eligible to be designated by the State as a critical access hospital under subsection (c) and meets any other criteria required by the Secretary under subsection (e)(3). (B) Facility described For purposes of subparagraph (A), a facility described in this subparagraph is a facility that— (i) was designated as a critical access hospital before January 1, 2002; (ii) as of December 31, 2024, was certified by the Secretary under subsection (e) as a critical access hospital; and (iii) as of the date on which the facility was officially notified by the Secretary that it was no longer so certified, was located in a county (or equivalent unit of local government) in which no other hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital was located..