ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 550
(By Senators Prezioso, Foster, Hunter and Jenkins)
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[Passed April 8, 2005; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §16-5B-14, relating
to designation of rural hospitals for purposes of the Critical
Access Hospital Program.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §16-5B-14, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 5B. HOSPITALS AND SIMILAR INSTITUTIONS.
§16-5B-14. The Critical Access Hospital Designation Act.
A hospital located in an urban area (Metropolitan Statistical
Areas (MSA) County), can be considered rural for the purposes of a
designation as a critical access hospital pursuant to 42 U. S. C.
§1395i-4(c)(2) if it meets the following criteria:
(1) Is enrolled as both a Medicaid and Medicare provider and accepts assignment for all Medicaid and Medicare patients;
(2) Provides emergency health care services to indigent
patients;
(3) Maintains 24-hour emergency services; and
(4) Is located in a county that has a rural population of
fifty percent or greater as determined by the most recent United
States decennial census.