H.R. 9908
Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act
Sponsor: Erin Houchin
Official summary
Written by the Congressional Research Service.
Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act
This bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a workforce development strategy to address the need for cybersecurity professionals in rural hospitals.
Among other topics, the strategy must consider (1) partnerships between rural hospitals, hospitals that are not rural hospitals, educational institutions, and private nonprofit or for-profit entities; and (2) the development of a cybersecurity curriculum for use in rural educational institutions. HHS must annually brief Congress on the strategy and any programs or initiatives established thereunder.
Additionally, HHS must disseminate free materials that rural hospitals may use to train staff about cybersecurity.
Text of the bill
In this Act:
(1) Agency. The term agency has the meaning given the term in section 551 of title 5, United States Code.
(2) Appropriate committees of Congress. The term appropriate committees of Congress means—
(A) the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate;
(B) the Committee on Finance of the Senate;
(C) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives; and
(D) the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.
(3) Geographic division. The term geographic division means a geographic division that is among the 9 geographic divisions determined by the Bureau of the Census.
(4) Rural hospital. The term rural hospital means—
(A) a subsection (d) hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(1)(B) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(1)(B))) that—
(i) is located in a rural area (as defined in paragraph (2)(D) of section 1886(d) of such Act);
(ii) is treated as being located in a rural area pursuant to paragraph (8)(E) of such section 1886(d); or
(iii) is located in a rural census tract of a metropolitan statistical area (as determined under the most recent modification of the Goldsmith Modification, originally published in the Federal Register on February 27, 1992 (57 Fed. Reg. 6725));
(B) a critical access hospital (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(mm)(1)));
(C) a sole community hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(5)(D)(iii) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(5)(D)(iii)));
(D) a medicare-dependent, small rural hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(5)(G)(iv) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395(ww)(d)(5)(G)(iv)));
(E) a low-volume hospital (as defined in section 1886(d)(12)(C) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395ww(d)(12)(C))); or
(F) a rural emergency hospital (as defined in section 1861(kkk)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(kkk)(2))).
(5) Secretary. The term Secretary means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.