Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program Extension Legislation Introduced and Advances
(June 2, 2026) - On May 20, 2026, the United States Senate unanimously passed the recently introduced Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program Reauthorization Act, which would extend the RCHD program for five years.
The RCHD provides cost-based inpatient Medicare reimbursement to certain hospitals with fewer than 51 beds that do not qualify as Critical Access Hospitals. Established in 2004, the program has been shown to improve hospital margins and capital investments. The RCHD reauthorization was one of KHA’s six appropriations requests for the upcoming year to prevent full expiration in 2028 and enabled the two Kansas hospitals and 28 others nationwide to maintain their participation. The House of Representatives introduced a companion version of this bill last week.
The Kansas Hospital Association thanks our entire delegation for their support for programs such as the RCHD and particularly appreciates Senator Jerry Moran and Reps. Tracey Mann and Derek Schmidt for their leadership as original cosponsors of this legislation (S. 4460/H.R. 8967).