Skip to main content
S. 403 119th Congress Senate

Rural Health Focus Act

Official title: A bill to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an Office of Rural Health, and for other purposes.

Introduced: February 5, 2025 Introduced by: Cindy Hyde-Smith Republican · Mississippi See on congress.gov
Health
Sign in to write a letter Sign in to watch
 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Feb 5, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Feb 5, 2025
Introduced in Senate
 Votes taken on this bill 2
DateChamberWhat was voted onResultYes–No
Sep 29, 2006 Senate · vote #263 On the Cloture Motion S. 403 Rejected 57–42 See who voted →
Jul 25, 2006 Senate · vote #216 On Passage of the Bill S. 403 Passed 65–34 See who voted →
 Ask about this bill AI · grounded in the bill text

Have a question about what this bill does? Ask in plain English; the answer is drawn from the bill's actual text and official record, and it'll tell you when something isn't in the text rather than guess.

AI answers can be imperfect; always confirm against the full bill text.

What's happening now February 5, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Rural Health Focus Act

This bill provides statutory authority for the Office of Rural Health (ORH) within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC established the ORH in 2023 in response to a congressional directive, and it currently leads the CDC’s rural public health strategy.

Specifically, the bill requires the CDC to establish the ORH and select a director to head the ORH. The bill specifies the duties and authorities of the ORH director, including improving understanding of particular challenges and implementing programs to improve health care for rural populations. 

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 3102 To direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish an Office of Rural Health, and for other purposes.
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 8

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

See all 8 filings →
 Cosponsors 3
All 3 Democratic 2 Republican 1
R
Capito, Shelley Moore
West Virginia · Jul 15, 2025
 D
Ossoff, Jon
Georgia · Mar 13, 2025
 D
Merkley, Jeff
Oregon · Feb 5, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 403: Rural Health Focus Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-403/
MLA
"S. 403: Rural Health Focus Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-403/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 403, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-403/.
Markdown link
[S. 403: Rural Health Focus Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-403/)
Report a problem