Fact Sheets
Fact Sheet: Rural Hospital Support Act (S. 335) and the Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act
In order for a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) to receive payment under Medicare Part A, Medicare currently requires physicians to certify that patients will be reasonably discharged or transferred to another hospital within 96 hours. While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had not historically enforced the requirement, in 2013, the agency implied that it would begin to do so more strictly.