MedPAC study and report on payment systems for rural hospitals

(a) Study The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (in this section referred to as the Commission) shall conduct a study, using data from 2018 through 2028, on payment systems for rural hospitals under the Medicare program under title XVIII of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.). Such study shall include an analysis of— (1) facilities designated as critical access hospitals pursuant to section 1820(c)(2)(B)(i)(III) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 2(a); (2) features of payment systems for rural hospitals, including value-based payment systems, that would— (A) ensure financial sustainability for the Medicare program; and (B) preserve access to care for Medicare beneficiaries; and (3) if the Commission recommends any new payment system for rural hospitals under the Medicare program, to the extent feasible, the impacts of transition from existing payment systems to such new payment system. (b) Report Not later than 8 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission shall submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection (a), together with recommendations for such legislation and administrative action as the Commission determines appropriate. I Definition of rural hospital In this section, the term rural hospital means— (1) a critical access hospital (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(mm)(1))); (2) a subsection (d) hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(1)(B))) that is located in a rural census tract of a metropolitan statistical area (as determined under the most recent modification of the Goldsmith Modification, originally published in the Federal Register on February 27, 1992 (57 Fed. Reg. 6725)); (3) a sole community hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(5)(D)(iii)) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(5)(D)(iii))); (4) a medicare dependent, small rural hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(5)(G)(iv) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(5)(G)(iv))); and (5) a low-volume hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(12)(C)(i) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(12)(C)(i))).