Bill · H.R. 1480· House(119-HR-1480)
Rural Health Innovation Act of 2025
- Introduced
- 2/21/2025
- Last activity
- 2/21/2025 — Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- Sponsored by
- David Kustoff
- Cosponsors
- - 0 - 1
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Rural Health Innovation Act of 2025 aims to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve healthcare in rural areas. It establishes the Rural Health Center Innovation Awards program to provide grants to Federally qualified health centers or rural health clinics to establish or maintain urgent care and triage services. Additionally, it creates the Rural Health Department Enhancement Program to award competitive grants to rural health departments for emergency, triage, and primary care services. The bill seeks to fund clinical staff and medical resources such as x-ray machines and laboratories. Both programs include specific guidelines for fund usage and grant amounts over a five-year period.
Yes· 3 of 5
Would people in rural areas be better off under this?+9
The bill directly targets the enhancement of healthcare services and facilities in rural areas.
Does this make health care easier to get in general?+8
The bill expands urgent care, triage, and primary care services specifically in rural areas.
Would households on low incomes be better off under this?+5
Increased healthcare access often benefits low-income residents in rural areas.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Improved Urgent Care Access: The Rural Health Center Innovation Awards program allows eligible entities to serve as walk-in urgent care and triage centers for air or ambulance transport (Section 2, subsection b, paragraph 1, subparagraph A).
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Increased Medical Resources: Grants can be used to provide essential resources including laboratories, x-ray machines, and cardiac monitors to rural areas (Section 2, subsection b, paragraph 1, subparagraph B).
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Expanded Healthcare Hours and Facilities: Funds may be used to expand the hours of operation or pay for the construction and renovation of health centers and clinics (Section 2, subsection b, paragraph 2, subparagraphs A and B).
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Enhanced Local Health Services: The Rural Health Department Enhancement Program enables local departments to provide emergency services, triage, transport, and primary care services (Section 3, subsection b).
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Community Outreach: Funding can be used to provide outreach to the community regarding the activities of the rural health department (Section 3, subsection e, paragraph 1, subparagraph C).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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Service Overlap Concerns: There is a possibility that multiple entities might attempt to serve the same area, requiring the Secretary to justify awards based on unmet needs (Section 2, subsection c, paragraph 3).
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Staffing Limitations for Health Departments: For rural health departments, there is a limit of no more than 3 percent of funds for hiring additional providers (Section 3, subsection e, paragraph 1, subparagraph B).
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Time-Limited Outreach: For rural health departments, the use of funds for community outreach is limited to no more than 3 percent for only the first two years of a grant (Section 3, subsection e, paragraph 2, subparagraph A).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Rural Residents+9Good For Low Income Households+5
- Healthcare
- Improves Healthcare Access+8
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Improves Rural Development+5
- Economy And Finance
- Increases Job Creation+3
- 2/21/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in House
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Chris PappasDemocrat · New Hampshire