Financially Distressed Hospitals Assistance Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
Financially Distressed Hospitals Assistance Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to establish a program of grants to financially distressed hospitals serving the medically indigent on an inpatient and outpatient basis. Sets forth eligibility and application criteria, including the development of a hospital services reorganization plan. Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review an application within 90 days of receipt. Requires the Governor of the applicant-hospital's State to advise the Secretary whether such hospital is a necessary source of essential health services to the community in which it is located. States that such grants may be used for payment of: (1) current indebtedness; (2) expenses related to reorganizing hospital services; and (3) retraining or severance pay for personnel adversely affected by such reorganization. Limits any single grant to a maximum of three years. Establishes a National Advisory Council on Hospital Financing Stabilization and Reorganization to: (1) advise the Secretary; (2) review grant applications and make recommendations to the Secretary; and (3) evaluate the health services provided under health services reorganization plans. Exempts the Council from the two-year termination provisions under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on June 26, 1980. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on June 26, 1980: Referred to House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
CHARLES RANGEL (D-NY) introduced it on June 26, 1980. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 26, 1980, 16877 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 16877 days ago, on June 26, 1980.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers