To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to establish a definition of essential health system in statute and for other related purposes.

This bill amends the Medicaid statute to establish a statutory definition of 'essential health system' for certain hospitals that serve high volumes of Medicaid and low-income patients. A hospital qualifies as an essential health system if it is a non-federal governmental or private nonprofit hospital meeting specific criteria related to disproportionate patient percentages, uncompensated care, or state-adjusted low-income care metrics in at least two of the three most recent fiscal years. The bill requires the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MACPAC) to maintain and publish an annual list of hospitals meeting these criteria and to calculate index values ranking each hospital's performance on these measures.

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