[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 127 (Wednesday, August 2, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                THE RURAL HEALTH CONSOLIDATED GRANT ACT

                                 ______


                           HON. PAT WILLIAMS

                               of montana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, August 2, 1995
  Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the House will vote on an 
appropriations bill that drastically cuts the modest inroads that we 
have made toward alleviating the barriers our rural communities face in 
obtaining quality health care. The health services available in rural 
areas have suffered over the course of the last few decades from the 
centralizing effects of the marketplace and the desire of practitioners 
to specialize. Rural States rely on the small amount of Federal funds 
available to them to counteract these pulls and provide their residents 
with care.
  Mr. Speaker, 55 million Americans--nearly one quarter of our Nation's 
population--live in rural areas, yet many of these folks find it 
difficult to obtain even the most basic health care services. Forty 
percent of rural Americans live in areas with fewer than one primary-
care physician for every 3,500 residents. Rural hospitals are in 
financial jeopardy and rural communities are finding it difficult to 
recruit doctors and other practitioners. Rural areas are plagued by a 
shortage of physicians, hospitals, and clinics. As a result, many folks 
must travel long distances and often through harsh weather conditions 
to get care. This is a hardship on many rural Americans, especially the 
elderly and the poor.
  Mr. Speaker, as I see it, we have two options: either first, hope 
that the Senate restores the funding that the House has cut from these 
small rural health programs; or second, plan for the future and offer 
an alternative approach that recognizes both the necessity of 
maintaining the small stream of funding that goes to rural health and 
the reality that the current set of disparate programs are too small 
and limited in scope to effectively and comprehensively address the 
problems facing rural America today.
  Today I am introducing legislation that finds that middle ground. My 
bill is the result of countless discussions with rural residents, 
doctors, nurses, hospitals, and policymakers. It reflects the lessons 
they've learned and the experiences they've had with breaking through 
the chronic isolation that plagues rural America to provide care to its 
residents.
  My bill provides a new direction for rural health. It creates a 
single program aimed at enabling rural communities to develop their own 
sustainable health care delivery systems. Furthermore, it reaffirms 
that providing health care to underserved rural Americans is and will 
remain a priority.
  Mr. Speaker, no community is viable without health care. Folks need 
to be healthy in order to go to work, pay taxes, attend school, and 
raise a family. That is why the decision to live in a rural area must 
not be a decision to accept inferior health care. Access to care in 
rural America is critical for both our local rural economies as well as 
the health of each individual rural American.


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