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Stefanik: Bill would make funding permanent for Massena, O'burg, Canton-Potsdam, Clifton-Fine, Gouveneur hospitals

Posted 6/6/17

Several local hospitals would benefit from a bill recently introduced in Congress that would make permanent a federal funding program. The Rural Hospitals Access Act would “ensure that funding is …

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Stefanik: Bill would make funding permanent for Massena, O'burg, Canton-Potsdam, Clifton-Fine, Gouveneur hospitals

Posted

Several local hospitals would benefit from a bill recently introduced in Congress that would make permanent a federal funding program.

The Rural Hospitals Access Act would “ensure that funding is secured on a permanent basis for Medicare Dependent and Low-Volume hospitals,” according to Rep. Elise Stefanik, Republican.

She said Gouverneur, Canton-Potsdam, Clifton-Fine and Massena Memorial hospitals and Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center would benefit from the program.

This legislation would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to make permanent the extension of the Medicare-dependent hospital (MDH) program and the increased payments under the Medicare low-volume hospital program. Medicare-dependent hospitals are small rural hospitals for which Medicare patients comprise a significant percentage of their patients, said Stefanik, one of the bill’s co-sponsors.

“Hospitals across our district rely on this important funding to help ensure families across our district – especially seniors – get the care they need,” Stefanik said in a prepared statement. “This bipartisan legislation would give rural hospitals across our district needed stability, allowing them to better serve the needs of our seniors.”