Washington ? Congress should correct differences in how Medicare treats city and small-town hospitals when it debates overhauling the program, lawmakers from rural states say.

“If you care about rural America, you have to care about the success of those hospitals,” Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said.

Moran and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., have written legislation that would make it so rural and urban hospitals receive similar payments from Medicare, the federal health care program for seniors.

Until this year, hospitals in cities with more than 1 million residents received checks that covered a bigger share of their costs than those sent to hospitals in smaller cities. The difference was based on the premise rural hospitals are cheaper to run.

Many lawmakers say that premise is no longer true, as hospitals everywhere compete for the same doctors and nurses when hiring and pay the same for supplies and equipment.

Congress equalized some Medicare payments in February, but those changes only applied to the current budget year, which ends Sept. 30.

Similar measures being considered in the House and Senate would make the fix permanent.

The bills also would lessen the extent regional labor costs affect Medicare payments; give more money to the smallest hospitals; remove limits the government now places on financial help to rural hospitals that serve a large number of uninsured patients; and provide loans and grants to fix hospital buildings or buy medical equipment.

The legislation’s cost is estimated between $17 billion and $19 billion over 10 years.

A similar effort failed in the last Congress. But Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said supporters would have a stronger hand to play this year, when Congress considers a range of Medicare proposals.