Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act

Sponsor: Erin Houchin (Republican-IN)July 23, 2026

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Introduced

In Committee

Passed One Chamber

Passed Both Chambers

Signed into Law

Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

Rural hospitals would get a plan and free training materials to fight cyberattacks.

This bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to create a plan for rural hospitals to hire and train cybersecurity staff and provide free online materials for basic cyber defense. This means rural hospitals would have more resources to protect patient data and systems from online threats.

What Would Change

Today, there is no federally mandated comprehensive strategy for developing a cybersecurity workforce in rural hospitals. Additionally, there are no specific instructional materials published by the Department of Health and Human Services for this purpose. After this bill, the Department of Health and Human Services would be required to develop a comprehensive rural hospital cybersecurity workforce development strategy. It would also publish free instructional materials for rural hospitals within one year of the bill becoming law.

Key Provisions

Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to create a plan for training cybersecurity workers in rural hospitals within one year.
Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to publish free online training materials for rural hospital staff on basic cybersecurity within one year.
Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to update Congress annually on the strategy's progress and effectiveness.
Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to consult with other federal agencies and rural healthcare providers (for the strategy) and experts (for materials) when developing the strategy and materials.
States that no additional funds are authorized for carrying out this Act, meaning existing agency budgets would be used.

View on Congress.gov

HR 9908 · 119th Congress · July 23, 2026 · AI Summary by gemini-2.5-flash · 2/10

Rural Hospital Cybersecurity Enhancement Act

What Would Change

Key Provisions

Lobbying Activity