S. 986 – Fairness for Our Hospitals Act of 2017

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Updated April 15, 2026 at 3:00 PM UTC

The Fairness for Our Hospitals Act of 2017 changes the Medicare law so that hospitals located in states that have no rural areas can be treated as Medicare‑dependent hospitals. This would let those hospitals qualify for special Medicare payment rules that were previously limited to rural hospitals. The bill also tells the Health and Human Services Secretary to set up a system to pay back any money those hospitals may have missed because of the rule change.

Key Provisions

Amends the definition of a Medicare‑dependent hospital to include hospitals in states with no rural area, as long as they meet existing eligibility criteria.
Requires the HHS Secretary to create a reimbursement process within 120 days to compensate affected hospitals for any prior underpayments caused by the new definition.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action

SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

April 27, 2017

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

April 27, 2017

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Finance Committee

April 27, 2017

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued April 27, 2017

II

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 986

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 27, 2017

Mr. Menendez (for himself, Mr. Booker, Mr. Carper, and Mr. Coons) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to permit hospitals in all-urban States to be considered Medicare dependent hospitals, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Fairness for Our Hospitals Act of 2017.

2.

Permitting hospitals in all-urban States to be considered Medicare dependent hospitals

(a)

In general

Section 1886(d)(5)(G)(iv)(I) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(5)(G)(iv)(I)) is amended to read as follows:

(I)

that—

(aa)

is located in a rural area; or

(bb)

for discharges occurring on or after January 1, 2011, is located in a State with no rural area (as defined in paragraph (2)(D)) and satisfies any of the criteria in subclause (I), (II), (III), or (IV) of paragraph (8)(E)(ii),

.

(b)

Process for recalculating payments

Not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall establish and implement a process under which the Secretary shall reimburse hospitals impacted by the amendment made by subsection (a) for any underpayments under title XVIII of the Social Security Act that are a result of the implementation of such amendment.