[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 37 (Thursday, March 20, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S2728]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              RURAL HEALTH

 Mr. ABRAHAM. Mr. President, I rise today to pledge my support 
to the Rural Health Improvement Act of 1997. In my home State of 
Michigan and across the Nation, this legislation would improve the 
standard of health care for millions of Americans who live in rural 
areas.
  Mr. President, I am very aware of the problems inherent in caring for 
citizens who live far away from major cities. Too often, these 
hardworking taxpayers and their children are not given easy access to 
the quality emergency and primary care services they deserve. There 
have, however, been two recent efforts that have been extremely 
successful in providing such care while also controlling costs -- the 
Montana Medical Assistance Facility demonstration project and the 
Essential Access Community Hospital and Rural Primary Care Hospital 
demonstration program.
  Mr. President, the bill that I endorse today would extend these 
successful initiatives to all 50 States. It would also ease Federal 
regulations for small hospitals that wish to be designated as 
``critical access'' institutions. The aim of the bill is to allow these 
facilities greater flexibility in tailoring their services to the needs 
of patients in their particular communities. In short, I believe this 
law would improve care and save lives. A study of these programs by the 
General Accounting Office, in fact, has found that these initiatives 
actually decreased Medicare costs while maintaining a high standard of 
care.
  In my view, Michigan and the rest of the Nation must receive the most 
affordable high quality care available. I believe this legislation is 
an important step in that direction. For these reasons, I am proud to 
cosponsor this legislation and urge my colleagues to do the 
same.

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