S. 2279 — Protect Medicaid and Rural Hospitals Act

This section repeals Section 71115 of P.L. 119-21, which modified Medicaid state provider tax authority under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.). (As background, such taxes allow states to impose assessments on healthcare providers—e.g., hospitals and nursing facilities—to fund a portion of their Medicaid share and draw additional federal matching funds; the repeal restores the pre-P.L. 119-21 rules permitting broader use of these taxes.)

This section repeals Section 71116 of P.L. 119-21, which modified rules for Medicaid state directed payments (i.e., payments states require Medicaid managed care organizations to make to specific providers or provider classes, subject to federal limits), rendering those provisions of no force or effect. The section also rescinds amounts appropriated under subsection (e) of that section.

This section provides $10 billion for each of fiscal years 2031 through 2035 for the rural health transformation program under section 2105(h) of the Social Security Act, as added by Public Law 119-21. (Thus, the program—which supports health care transformation initiatives in rural areas through CHIP—receives an additional $50 billion total.)