The AHA voiced support for the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act, legislation reintroduced March 3 by Reps. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., and Terri Sewell, D-Ala., that would extend the Medicare-dependent hospital and low-volume adjustment programs for five years each. 

“These payments allow MDHs greater financial stability and leave them better able to serve their patients and communities,” AHA wrote in comments to Miller and Sewell. “The current, improved low-volume adjustment better accounts for the relationship between cost and volume, helps level the playing field for low-volume providers, and improves access to care in rural areas.”