Sec. 426. Rural health care services
1,917 words·~9 min read·
/bill/113/hr/5294/ih/section-426A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Section 330A of the Public Health Service Act ( 42 U.S.C. 254c ) is amended to read as follows: The purpose of this section is to provide for grants— under subsection (b), to promote rural health care services outreach; under subsection (c), to provide for the planning and implementation of integrated health care networks in rural areas; under subsection (d), to assist rural communities in the Delta Region to reduce health disparities and to promote and enhance health system development; and under subsection (e), to provide for the planning and implementation of small rural health care provider quality improvement activities.
The Director of the Office of Rural Health Policy of the Health Resources and Services Administration may award grants to eligible entities to promote rural health care services outreach by expanding the delivery of health care services to include new and enhanced services in rural areas. The Director may award the grants for periods of not more than 3 years. To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection for a project, an entity— shall be a rural public or rural nonprofit private entity, a facility that qualifies as a rural health clinic under title XVIII of the Social Security Act, a public or nonprofit entity existing exclusively to provide services to migrant and seasonal farm workers in rural areas, or a tribal government whose grant-funded activities will be conducted within federally recognized tribal areas; shall represent a consortium composed of members— that include 3 or more independently owned health care entities; and that may be nonprofit or for-profit entities; and shall not previously have received a grant under this subsection for the same or a similar project, unless the entity is proposing to expand the scope of the project or the area that will be served through the project.
To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall prepare and submit to the Director an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require, including— a description of the project that the eligible entity will carry out using the funds provided under the grant; a description of the manner in which the project funded under the grant will meet the health care needs of rural populations in the local community or region to be served; a plan for quantifying how health care needs will be met through identification of the target population and benchmarks of service delivery or health status, such as— quantifiable measurements of health status improvement for projects focusing on health promotion; or benchmarks of increased access to primary care, including tracking factors such as the number and type of primary care visits, identification of a medical home, or other general measures of such access; a description of how the local community or region to be served will be involved in the development and ongoing operations of the project; a plan for sustaining the project after Federal support for the project has ended; a description of how the project will be evaluated; the administrative capacity to submit annual performance data electronically as specified by the Director; and other such information as the Director determines to be appropriate.
The Director may award rural health network development grants to eligible entities to promote, through planning and implementation, the development of integrated health care networks that have combined the functions of the entities participating in the networks in order to— achieve efficiencies and economies of scale; expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of the health care delivery system through development of organizational efficiencies; implement health information technology to achieve efficiencies, reduce medical errors, and improve quality; coordinate care and manage chronic illness; and strengthen the rural health care system as a whole in such a manner as to show a quantifiable return on investment to the participants in the network.
The Director may award such a rural health network development grant— for a period of 3 years for implementation activities; or for a period of 1 year for planning activities to assist in the initial development of an integrated health care network, if the proposed participants in the network do not have a history of collaborative efforts and a 3-year grant would be inappropriate. To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an entity— shall be a rural public or rural nonprofit private entity, a facility that qualifies as a rural health clinic under title XVIII of the Social Security Act, a public or nonprofit entity existing exclusively to provide services to migrant and seasonal farm workers in rural areas, or a tribal government whose grant-funded activities will be conducted within federally recognized tribal areas; shall represent a network composed of participants— that include 3 or more independently owned health care entities; and that may be nonprofit or for-profit entities; and shall not previously have received a grant under this subsection (other than a 1-year grant for planning activities) for the same or a similar project.
To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an eligible entity, in consultation with the appropriate State office of rural health or another appropriate State entity, shall prepare and submit to the Director an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require, including— a description of the project that the eligible entity will carry out using the funds provided under the grant; an explanation of the reasons why Federal assistance is required to carry out the project; a description of— the history of collaborative activities carried out by the participants in the network; the degree to which the participants are ready to integrate their functions; and how the local community or region to be served will benefit from and be involved in the activities carried out by the network; a description of how the local community or region to be served will experience increased access to quality health care services across the continuum of care as a result of the integration activities carried out by the network, including a description of— return on investment for the community and the network members; and other quantifiable performance measures that show the benefit of the network activities; a plan for sustaining the project after Federal support for the project has ended; a description of how the project will be evaluated; the administrative capacity to submit annual performance data electronically as specified by the Director; and other such information as the Director determines to be appropriate.
The Director may award grants to eligible entities to support reduction of health disparities, improve access to health care, and enhance rural health system development in the Delta Region. To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall be a rural public or rural nonprofit private entity, a facility that qualifies as a rural health clinic under title XVIII of the Social Security Act, a public or nonprofit entity existing exclusively to provide services to migrant and seasonal farm workers in rural areas, or a tribal government whose grant-funded activities will be conducted within federally recognized tribal areas.
To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall prepare and submit to the Director an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require, including— a description of the project that the eligible entity will carry out using the funds provided under the grant; an explanation of the reasons why Federal assistance is required to carry out the project; a description of the manner in which the project funded under the grant will meet the health care needs of the Delta Region; a description of how the local community or region to be served will experience increased access to quality health care services as a result of the activities carried out by the entity; a description of how health disparities will be reduced or the health system will be improved; a plan for sustaining the project after Federal support for the project has ended; a description of how the project will be evaluated including process and outcome measures related to the quality of care provided or how the health care system improves its performance; a description of how the grantee will develop an advisory group made up of representatives of the communities to be served to provide guidance to the grantee to best meet community need; and other such information as the Director determines to be appropriate.
The Director may award grants to provide for the planning and implementation of small rural health care provider quality improvement activities. The Director may award the grants for periods of 1 to 3 years. To be eligible for a grant under this subsection, an entity— shall be— a rural public or rural nonprofit private health care provider or provider of health care services, such as a rural health clinic; or another rural provider or network of small rural providers identified by the Director as a key source of local care; and shall not previously have received a grant under this subsection for the same or a similar project.
In awarding grants under this subsection, the Director shall give preference to facilities that qualify as rural health clinics under title XVIII of the Social Security Act. To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an eligible entity shall prepare and submit to the Director an application at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Director may require, including— a description of the project that the eligible entity will carry out using the funds provided under the grant; an explanation of the reasons why Federal assistance is required to carry out the project; a description of the manner in which the project funded under the grant will assure continuous quality improvement in the provision of services by the entity; a description of how the local community or region to be served will experience increased access to quality health care services as a result of the activities carried out by the entity; a plan for sustaining the project after Federal support for the project has ended; a description of how the project will be evaluated including process and outcome measures related to the quality of care provided; and other such information as the Director determines to be appropriate.
An entity that receives a grant under this section may not use funds provided through the grant— to build or acquire real property; or for construction. The Director shall coordinate activities carried out under grant programs described in this section, to the extent practicable, with Federal and State agencies and nonprofit organizations that are operating similar grant programs, to maximize the effect of public dollars in funding meritorious proposals. Not later than September 30, 2016, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the progress and accomplishments of the grant programs described in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e).
In this section: The term Delta Region has the meaning given to the term region in section 382A of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act ( 7 U.S.C. 2009aa ). The term Director means the Director of the Office of Rural Health Policy of the Health Resources and Services Administration. There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $40,000,000 for fiscal year 2015, and such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2019. .
Connectionstraces to 2
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 2Cited by 0 across 0 sources