Section 1. Short title

This Act may be cited as the Rural Hospital Fairness Act.

Sec. 2. Providing for the treatment of certain hospitals as critical access hospitals under the Medicare program

Section 1820(h) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395i–4(h)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

(4) Continuation of CAH status for certain facilities

(A) In general

A facility described in subparagraph (B) that does not meet the location requirement under subsection (c)(2)(B)(i)(I) (and was not certified by the State as being a necessary provider of health care services to residents in the area under subsection (c)(2)(B)(i)(II)) shall be deemed to have been certified by the Secretary under subsection (e) as a critical access hospital so long as such facility is otherwise eligible to be designated by the State as a critical access hospital under subsection (c) and meets any other criteria required by the Secretary under subsection (e)(3).

(B) Facility described

For purposes of subparagraph (A), a facility described in this subparagraph is a facility that—

(i)

was designated as a critical access hospital before January 1, 2002;

(ii)

as of December 31, 2024, was certified by the Secretary under subsection (e) as a critical access hospital; and

(iii)

as of the date on which the facility was officially notified by the Secretary that it was no longer so certified, was located in a county (or equivalent unit of local government) in which no other hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital was located.