Rep. Jay McNamar: Bill to help rural hospitals passes in House

This week was very exciting because my bill to help rural hospitals got passed by the state House.

The legislation addresses an issue that hospitals in rural areas are facing with being reimbursed for certain services. Last year, new restrictions put in place meant that hospitals only got reimbursed for certain services (like MRIs and others) if they received accreditation on top of their traditional medical license. This meant that many rural hospitals and providers were either going to lose money by having to spend time on getting this extra accreditation or not be able to perform services for their patients.

But my bill will allow hospitals and providers to get reimbursed for those services without having to get another accreditation. It’s a common sense solution that many rural hospitals were asking for and I’m happy to be able to work for medical professionals and their patients.

I also have to thank Rick Ash, the administrator of the Ortonville Area Hospital Services, and Geri Burmeister, administrator of the Windom Hospital in southern Minnesota. Both of them testified for the bill during the committee process and they were able to give perfect examples of how these regulations were affecting their finances and their patients.

Whenever possible, I want to improve our state government regulations. This bill will help make operations run more efficiently and ensure that patients all across Minnesota are able to get the medical services they need. It had strong bipartisan support and I know it will have a positive impact on our local hospitals.