Illinois Senator Dick Durbin is pushing to get rural hospitals more help, by partnering with Oklahoma Senator James Lankford to sponsor the the Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act.
"It would update Medicaid's and Medicare's Critical Access Hospital Designation, allowing more hospitals to qualify for higher payments."
Durbin is also sponsoring another bill which would increase the amount that Doctors would be reimbursed for student debt, if they agree to move to a rural area. The new ceiling would rise to 200-thousand dollars over five years, up from the current 50-thousand dollars.
"Our belief is that if these medical professionals live for a longer period of time, in the community, they're more likely to stay."
Durbin says small, rural hospitals have to be kept strong because they generate five Billion dollars in payroll, goods and services in the areas they are located.
