WASHINGTON, DC– Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) applauded the passage of H.R. 4067, which provides for the extension of the enforcement instruction on supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services in critical access and small rural hospitals through 2014. The legislation helps Eastern Washington patients receive care in critical access and small rural hospitals. 

“Growing up in Eastern Washington, I know firsthand the challenges rural communities face when it comes to accessing health care.  Right now, it’s too hard for those in rural areas to receive quality health care because too many government mandates stand in the way. This legislationaddresses one of those unnecessarily burdensome mandates.  It ensures that those in rural hospitals have full access to outpatient therapeutic services.  The patients who rely on Eastern Washington’s rural hospitals for life-saving treatments and procedures must be protected – with fewer regulations and smarter legislation.”      

Over 46 million Americans in rural communities depend on critical access and small rural hospitals, and this legislation delays the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandate regarding “direct supervision” of outpatient services for the rest of the year. This CMS policy would require a supervising physician be physically present in the department when Medicare beneficiaries receive these services. H.R. 4067 delays the enforcement of this policyfor critical access and small rural hospitals with fewer than 100 beds.