S. 551 — Ensuring Outpatient Quality for Rural States Act

This section authorizes the Secretary to apply a cost-of-living adjustment to the non-labor-related portion of Medicare payment amounts under the hospital outpatient prospective payment system for covered outpatient department services furnished by hospitals in Alaska and Hawaii on or after January 1, 2026, in the same manner as provided under the inpatient hospital prospective payment system (i.e., SSA section 1886(d)(5)(H)). Such adjustment is not required to be applied in a budget neutral manner.