The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on May 8 approved two healthcare bills supported by U.S. Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV) during its markup of several related bills.
“The healthcare bills that passed the Ways and Means Committee are wins for West Virginia and rural America,” Rep. Miller said. “These bills ensure hospice providers, rural hospitals, and critical access hospitals have the resources needed to provide the best care to their patients.
“Today was a step forward for rural health care access and I am confident these bills will make a positive difference in providing care across America,” said the congresswoman on Wednesday.
The committee voted 25-18 to pass the bipartisan Preserving Emergency Access in Key Sites (PEAKS) Act, H.R. 7931, which would update the fee schedule for ambulance services provided by critical access hospitals (CAHs).
Rep. Miller sponsored H.R. 7931 on April 10 alongside lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO) to ensure CAHs in mountainous areas receive fair compensation for ambulance services and modify distance requirements.
“Unfortunately, when the ‘mountainous terrain exception’ was created, parity was not included for ambulance services. This means that even though these mountainous Critical Access Hospitals qualify for the designation with a 15-mile radius, their ambulance services must still meet the standard 35-mile radius requirement,” Rep. Miller said.
If enacted, she said H.R. 7931 “fixes this issue” and “will help rural hospitals provide these much-needed ambulance services to patients in the most remote areas of the country.”
The committee also included language from Rep. Miller’s bipartisan Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals (ARCH) Act, H.R. 6430, in a larger healthcare package of bills.
Rep. Miller sponsored H.R. 6430 in November 2023 with lead cosponsor U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) to extend Medicare-dependent hospital and Medicare low-volume hospital payments, and to direct the U.S. Comptroller General to carry out a report on Medicare rural hospital classifications, according to the bill’s text.
A provision within H.R. 6430, which would extend those Medicare hospital payments through fiscal year 2025, was included in the larger Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act, H.R. 8261, which the Ways and Means Committee passed by voice vote.
“With the inclusion of mine and Congresswoman Sewell’s ARCH Act, this bill will… [ensure] that our rural hospitals have the resources they need to provide care to rural patients,” said Rep. Miller. “Of course, I’d love to see a longer term of extensions of these programs, but this is a step in the right direction.”
The larger package also includes the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act, H.R. 8278, which Rep. Miller sponsored on May 7 to allow hospice providers to use telehealth to conduct face-to-face visits required for hospice recertification and allows for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to track what telehealth hospice recertifications are furnished through telehealth, according to her bill summary.
“I’m also pleased that this package includes language from one of my bills, the Hospice Recertification Flexibility Act,” Rep. Miller said. “This provision keeps in line with existing hospice telehealth rules and makes sure that patients can remain in the comfort of their home at the close of their life.”