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HR 9642 Cleared committee

Allows certain small rural and critical access hospitals to be paid under Medicare Part A on a reasonable cost basis for anesthesiologist services, if they perform 800 or fewer surgeries requiring anesthesia and their anesthesiologists agree not to bill Part B separately.

Official title: Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act

Next stop House floor: awaiting a vote
Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions
House
Introduced 13-JUL-2026
Referred 13-JUL-2026
Approved by committee 15-JUL-2026
Key points
  • Covers rural hospitals and critical access hospitals that performed 800 or fewer surgical procedures requiring anesthesia, or a higher number the Secretary sets.
  • Limits eligible hospitals to those employing or contracting with no more than one full-time equivalent anesthesiologist, who must agree not to bill Part B for their services at the hospital.
  • Starts for cost reporting periods beginning one year after enactment, with the 800-procedure test applied again each year after 2027.
  • Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to revise Medicare regulations so these anesthesia services are excluded from the definition of physicians' services.
AI-generated from the Introduced in House text of 13-JUL-2026 · verify · report an error
Official CRS summary

Current. The Congressional Research Service's summary covers the bill's latest wording (Introduced in House, 13-JUL-2026).

CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.gov
Committee referrals (1) Policy area

Health

Sponsor John R. Moolenaar (R-MI) Cosponsors · 10
■ 6 R■ 4 D