H.R. 5858: Community Access to Treatment and Care for Health through Increased Testing Act

This bill, known as the Community Access to Treatment and Care for Health through Increased Testing Act (CATCH IT Act), aims to enhance the capacity of rural health facilities to purchase and improve preventative health care equipment. The key components of the bill include the following:

Increased Federal Financial Support

The bill proposes to increase the federal share of funding available to rural health facilities for acquiring or upgrading preventative health care equipment. Specifically, the federal contribution will be raised by an additional 25 percentage points if the facility's development involves the purchase of such equipment.

Definition of Preventative Health Care Equipment

The bill outlines what qualifies as preventative health care equipment. According to the proposed amendments, this includes:

• Advanced breast imaging equipment, such as devices for digital breast tomosynthesis or 3-dimensional mammography.
• Mobile cancer screening units.
• Laboratory equipment used for multi-cancer early detection or diagnostic cancer screening.
• Equipment for colorectal cancer screening.
• Computed tomography (CT) scanners.
• Diagnostic ultrasound equipment.

Implementation Timeline

The changes proposed by this bill will take effect on the first day of the first federal fiscal year that starts after the bill is enacted.

Impact on Rural Health Care

By increasing financial assistance and clearly defining the types of equipment that can be funded, this bill aims to improve access to essential health care services in rural areas. This could lead to better diagnosis and treatment options for residents in those regions.

Relevant Companies

• GE: General Electric, which manufactures medical imaging equipment, may see an increase in demand for its advanced imaging technologies if rural health facilities receive additional funding to purchase such equipment.
• VAR: Varian Medical Systems, a company that provides cancer care technologies, could benefit from increased investments in mobile cancer screening units and laboratory equipment for early detection as rural facilities upgrade their services.
• MDT: Medtronic, which produces a range of diagnostic and imaging equipment, might see impacts due to potential growth in orders from rural health centers acquiring new technologies.