Health reform bill: one year later
As we mark the one-year anniversary of the controversial Affordable Care Act (ACA or the health reform bill), it may be prudent to recall the impact this bill will have on rural America.
NRHA has long lobbied Capitol Hill and the Administration to resolve the access to care crisis in rural America. NRHA did not support or oppose health reform; instead, we used the legislative vehicle to advance an agenda to improve access to care for rural patients.
Our message to Capitol Hill was simple: If health reform is to work for rural patients and providers, the law must first resolve the workforce shortage crisis in rural areas and eliminate long-standing payment inequities for rural providers.
The ACA contained important building blocks to improve access to care, but so much more is needed. Additionally, as legal challenges and legislative attempts to repeal persist, the beat of the implementation process is steady and unrelenting.
Join NRHA in our fight to protect rural providers and patients from overly burdensome requirements in health reform and to further advance our agenda to improve access to care. It’s important for all to stay involved as we work together to improve health care for the 62 million who call rural America home.
Click here for provisions that NRHA fought for and were included in health care reform. For provisions omitted from health reform that remain on NRHA’s agenda, click here.