Rural Hospitals to get "life support"

Iowa’s two U-S Senators are introducing a bill today that aims to extend a “lifeline to struggling rural hospitals.” Democrat Tom Harkin says the legislation would equalize Medicare payments to Iowa and other less-populous states with the payments made to bigger states. The bill is called H-CARE — which stands for Health Care Access and Rural Equality. Among the aspects, Harkin says the measure would shore up payments to hospitals which provide nursing care. Harkin says rural hospitals practice conservative, cost-effective health care and should be rewarded for it, not penalized. Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is a co-sponsor of the bill.