Establishes a statutory definition for essential health system under Medicare.
H.R. 7397118th Congress

Establishes a statutory definition for essential health system under Medicare.

Introduced in the HouseRep. Lori Trahan (D-MA-3)8 sections · 1 min read
Version: ih · Apr 20, 2026

Section 1. Establishing a definition of essential health system in statute

Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:

(nnn) Essential health system

The term essential health system means a hospital—

(1) that is a subsection (d) hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(1)(B));

(2) that is a non-Federal governmental or private nonprofit hospital; and

(3) that—

(A) meets the requirements of a Medicaid deemed disproportionate share hospital (as described in section 1923(b)(1));

(B) has a Medicare disproportionate patient percentage of at least 35 percent (as defined in section 1886(d)(5)(F)(vi)); or

(C) has a Medicare disproportionate share hospital uncompensated care payment factor of 0.0005 or more, (as defined in section 1886(r)(2)(C)).

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