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LUBBOCK, Texas (KSBD) – Texas Tech’s College of Human Sciences hosted a symposium on rural health care that featured panelists such as Congressman Jodey Arrington. Congressman Arrington, who represents Texas’ 19th district, said rural health care should be everyone’s concern.
“You want to eat, you want to have food security, you want to have energy independence and low prices, you know, at the pump and to heat and cool your home. Support. Rural. America. Invest in critical infrastructure like health care, transportation and more. You too.” You use it,” Arrington said.
Congressman: Providing healthcare in rural areas has always been difficult, but COVID-19 and inflation have made it ‘mission impossible’.
“People are burned out. It’s hard to deal with inflation,” Arrington said.
In particular, he mentioned the cost of energy and the need to hire nurses and other mid-level health care providers.
“Realize that in rural America, you have fewer patients, fewer consumers, a lower tax base to cover the costs, and a less favorable payer mix,” Arrington said.
There is also the cost of providing care for the uninsured. Arrington said these rural health systems need investment from the government to support things like Medicare.
“If we don’t help them, we won’t have the basic access to care for the families that support our food, fuel and fiber production as a whole,” Arrington said.
Melanie Richburg, CEO of the Linn County Health Care System, said not being able to help is not an option. She believes that everyone deserves some form of health care.
“But when sick and injured patients come to see you and they don’t have money, it’s hard to be able to pay the bills,” Richberg said.
One good thing hospitals have gotten out of the COVID-19 pandemic is CARES ACT funding, Richburg said.
“And that was a lifeline. If we didn’t have that, I probably wouldn’t be standing here talking to you today because it’s so hard. It’s day-to-day,” Richburg said.
The Linn County Hospital building is 50 years old, and has only one restroom that is wheelchair accessible.
“It’s not a state of the art, we make it work. “We save lives, we take care of people every day,” Richburg said.
Competition from commercial insurance companies has disrupted rural medical systems.
“Less than 1% of all Medicare dollars go to rural communities. So we’re asking for a fair share of the fees so that we can stay there and sustain these communities,” Richburg said.
Congressman Arrington is trying to help these rural health systems survive with his new bill. “The Law of the Heart”. It filed last Friday, aiming to make Medicare payments permanent for some hospitals.
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