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REFERENCE TITLE: rural hospitals; stability assessment; distribution |
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State of Arizona Senate Fifty-seventh Legislature Second Regular Session 2026
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SB 1534 |
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Introduced by Senator Sundareshan
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AN ACT
Amending title 36, chapter 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding article 12; relating to health care institutions.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 36, chapter 4, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding article 12, to read:
ARTICLE 12. RURAL COUNTY HOSPITAL SAFETY NET INTEGRITY
36-450.11. Definitions
In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Core safety net service" means any of the following:
(a) Obstetrics and labor and delivery services available twenty-four hours a day.
(b) Inpatient behavioral health or psychiatric services.
(c) A level I, II or III trauma center designation.
(d) A neonatal intensive care unit.
2. "Limited service hospital" means a health care institution that is licensed as a general hospital or special hospital and that operates an emergency department, but does not provide at least two core safety net services.
3. "Rural county" means a county with a population of less than five hundred thousand persons.
36-450.12. Community stability assessment; limited service hospitals
Beginning January 1, 2027:
1. A limited service hospital that operates in a rural county shall pay a community stability assessment equal to four percent of the hospital's net patient revenue.
2. The director shall collect the assessment annually and deposit the monies in the rural safety net fund established by section 36-450.13.
36-450.13. Rural safety net fund; distributions; hospital eligibility
A. The rural safety net fund is established consisting of monies collected pursuant to section 36-450.12. The department shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations.
B. Monies in the fund shall be segregated by county. Monies collected from a limited service hospital in a specific county may be distributed only to eligible hospitals in that same county.
C. To be eligible to receive monies from the fund, a hospital must:
1. Be licensed as a general hospital in the applicable rural county.
2. Provide at least two core safety net services.
3. Have a payor mix composed of at least twenty percent medicaid or uninsured patients.
36-450.14. Annual report; posting
A. On or before March 1 of each year, each hospital in a rural county shall submit a report to the department that details all of the following for the previous calendar year:
1. The total number of patients who presented to the hospital's emergency department.
2. The total number of patients who were admitted to the hospital.
3. The total number of patients who were transferred to another acute care hospital after stabilization.
4. The primary payor source for patients who were retained in the hospital versus patients who were transferred to another hospital.
B. The department shall annually publish the data reported under subsection A of this section on its public website.
Sec. 2. Requirements for enactment; two-thirds vote
Pursuant to article IX, section 22, Constitution of Arizona, this act is effective only on the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the members of each house of the legislature and is effective immediately on the signature of the governor or, if the governor vetoes this act, on the subsequent affirmative vote of at least three-fourths of the members of each house of the legislature.