Rural Health Resilience Act of 2026

Key Points

• This bill creates a new federal program offering loans and loan guarantees to rural health centers that are at risk of closing or cutting back essential services. The goal is to keep medical care accessible in small towns and rural areas where losing a clinic or hospital could mean driving hours for basic care.
• A wide range of facilities can qualify, including critical access hospitals, rural emergency hospitals, mental health centers, opioid treatment programs, and federally qualified health centers. To be eligible, a facility must show financial distress through measures like an operating margin below 5 percent or low cash reserves.
• Loan funds can be used for building repairs, equipment upgrades, staff payroll, debt refinancing, and covering operational costs. However, the money cannot be used for employee bonuses.
• The program gives priority to health centers that are the only provider in their community, those in high-poverty areas (20% poverty rate or above), and hospitals delivering critical emergency and safety-net services.
• Within 18 months of enactment, the Secretary of Agriculture must report to Congress on the program's results, including how well it has stabilized the finances of assisted facilities. A public summary of the report will also be released, without private financial details.