Hinds Today

U.S. Senators Cindy Hyde-Smith and Chuck Grassley have welcomed a decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to open more slots for rural hospitals in the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration (RCHD) program. CMS plans to develop a Request for Application for rural hospitals to utilize 10 available spaces in the RCHD program.

This decision follows advocacy from Hyde-Smith and Grassley, who urged CMS to fill vacancies in the program to support rural hospitals. "The CMS is finally doing the right thing to give more rural hospitals an opportunity to be part of the RCHD program, which can be a vital lifeline for rural healthcare providers," Hyde-Smith stated. She emphasized that it should not have taken so long for CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services to act.

Grassley also expressed satisfaction with CMS's response, stating, "I’m glad to see CMS answer my years-long call and give more rural hospitals a chance to thrive." He encouraged swift action from CMS in processing applications.

The RCHD program aims to support financial viability for rural hospitals that do not qualify as Critical Access Hospitals but are too small for Medicare’s hospital inpatient prospective payment system. Created by Congress in 2003, the program has been reauthorized three times with 30 available slots—20 of which are currently filled.

In October, Hyde-Smith and Grassley issued a letter challenging CMS's lack of action on fully utilizing the RCHD program. This followed Hyde-Smith's advocacy at an April appropriations subcommittee hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

Facilities like Anderson Regional Medical Center in Meridian, Highland Community Hospital in Picayune, and Marion General Hospital in Columbia are among those testing innovation models under the RCHD program.