Rural Health Sustainability Act of 2025

The Rural Health Sustainability Act of 2025 modifies Medicare rules to change how hospitals qualify as "rural emergency hospitals." It adds a new requirement that hospitals must first have been designated as rural by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Office of Rural Health Policy. This change affects hospitals seeking this specific Medicare designation, which is needed to receive certain reimbursement rates for rural emergency services. The bill also adjusts the effective date of existing criteria to January 1, 2014, but the key new provision focuses on the HRSA designation requirement.