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HR 8504

Rural Health Resilience Act of 2026

119th Congress Introduced by Don Bacon and 4 co-sponsors

Provides loans and loan guarantees to financially distressed rural health centers to prevent closures and restore essential, frontline health services.

Introduced in House
0
WeVote Research Nonpartisan
Bill Summary · HR 8504

Summary of HR 8504 — Rural Health Resilience Act of 2026

Purpose

  • Establish a Rural Health Care Facility Stabilization Assistance Program to prevent the closure or reduction of essential health services in rural communities.
  • Provide affordable financing (loans and loan guarantees) to rural health centers facing financial distress.
  • Improve resilience and access to essential health services in rural areas.

Key Provisions

Creation of the Rural Health Care Facility Stabilization Assistance Program

  • Located within Subtitle D of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, creating a new Section 375: Rural Health Care Facility Stabilization Assistance Program.
  • The Secretary shall provide loans and loan guarantees to rural health centers to prevent closure or service reductions and to restore essential services.

Eligible Borrowers and Definitions

  • Eligible Borrowers:

    • Health centers located in rural areas or serving rural communities with a hospital that serves a predominantly rural population (at least 60% of patients rural) or where at least 30% of a health center’s patients reside in a rural area.
    • Health centers must demonstrate financial distress using objective indicators (examples given: operating margin < 5%, low cash reserves, risk of service loss, or other Secretary-defined indicators).

  • Definitions:

    • Health Center: Includes a wide range of facilities such as:
    • Subsection (d) hospitals
    • Critical Access Hospitals
    • Sole Community Hospitals
    • Medicare-dependent small rural hospitals
    • Low-volume hospitals
    • Rural Emergency Hospitals
    • Rural Health Clinics
    • Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
    • Community Mental Health Centers
    • Health centers receiving a Section 330 grant
    • Opioid Treatment Programs
    • Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics
    • Rural Area: Defined per the standard rural area definition in 7 U.S.C. 343(a)(13), including areas a Secretary may designate as rural under subparagraphs of that provision.

Priority Considerations

  • The Secretary may prioritize assistance to:
    • Sole Community Providers (as determined by the Secretary)
    • Providers in high-poverty areas or areas designated as having a shortage of personal health services
    • Hospitals delivering critical emergency and safety-net services (as determined by the Secretary)
  • High Poverty Area Definition: Area with a areawide poverty rate of 20% or more, based on the Bureau of the Census’ Official Poverty Measure.

Uses of Funds

  • Loans or loan guarantees may be used to:
    • Prevent closure or loss of essential services
    • Restore essential services
    • Acquire, repair, or upgrade facilities, systems, and equipment
    • Cover operational costs (including supplies and payroll, excluding bonuses)
    • Debt payments, working capital, maintaining essential service lines, bridging reimbursement timing gaps, or refinancing high-interest debt related to patient care operations
    • Any other Secretary-approved activities

Reporting

  • Within 18 months of enactment, the Secretary must report to:
    • House Committee on Agriculture
    • Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
  • The report should cover activities and outcomes of the program, including its impact on stabilizing finances of assisted facilities.
  • A public summary of the report must be provided, excluding personal or financial information about individual health centers.

Who Would Be Affected

  • Rural health centers that meet the eligibility criteria and demonstrate financial distress.
  • Rural communities served by these centers, which may experience improved access to and continuity of essential health services.
  • The broader rural health care system, including various facility types listed in the definitions (hospitals, clinics, FQHCs, behavioral health clinics, opioid treatment programs, etc.).

Timing and Procedural Notes

  • Introduced in the 119th Congress and referred to the House Committee on Agriculture (as of the bill text available).
  • The act would take effect upon enactment, with a mandatory 18-month reporting requirement to Congress.

Practical Impact

  • Provides a federal financing mechanism to bolster financially distressed rural health facilities.
  • Aims to reduce the risk of service reductions or closures, thereby preserving access to essential health services in rural areas.
  • Encourages prioritization for facilities in high-poverty or underserved regions and those delivering critical emergency and safety-net services.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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