Pass the Save Rural Hospitals Act
One of the priorities of my campaign is to ensure that Americans living in rural communities have access to much needed healthcare in their area. The fastest way to guarantee that would be to immediately pass legislation similar to HR 2957, the Save Rural Hospitals Act, a bipartisan bill that never made it out of committee since its introduction in 2017. When I am elected as your Congressman, I am committed to advancing legislation that’s good for the Ninth District and to working across the aisle when it makes sense.
Over 160 rural hospitals across the nation have closed in the past decade. And in that time alone, Georgia has experienced the most rural closures - with 41% of Georgia’s rural hospitals currently at risk for future closures. With the passage of an updated Save Rural Hospitals Act, an estimated 11.7 million patients, including almost two million Georgians according to the Georgia Public health Association, would have access to care within their communities.
When rural hospitals close, real people, whom we often overlook, suffer. When rural hospitals close, local economies suffer because the hospital is usually one of the largest employers in those communities. When rural hospitals close, taxpayers suffer because it is less expensive to provide services in a rural setting than to force residents to risk their health by travelling for quality care.. I support passage of the Save Rural Hospitals Act because doing so would expand Medicare to rural hospitals, provide critical access facilities with flexibility to rebound from economic shocks, and reach veterans in need of medical service in rural areas.
This bill will allow rural communities to designate their hospital as a Community Outpatient Hospital, which would ensure access to both emergency care and outpatient services to meet the specific needs of the local community. Unless we pass the Save Rural Hospitals Act, the rural hospital closure crisis will continue. If more rural hospitals close, the U.S.’s and Georgia’s most vulnerable and overlooked populations will continue to be in danger.
