NRHA Sends Letter to Congressional Leaders Regarding Rural Representation on New Deficit Reduction Panel
The National Rural Health Association sent the following letter to leaders of both houses of Congress today regarding appointments to the new deficit reduction panel authorized by the Budget Control Act of 2011. NRHA urges you to contact your elected officials now to further explain the need for rural representation on this panel. Dear Leader Reid, Speaker Boehner, Leader McConnell and Leader Pelosi, As you know, the Budget Control Act of 2011 included a provision establishing a new committee tasked with making recommendations on additional deficit savings over the next ten years. This committee will consist of 12 members of Congress, appointed by you. To ensure that rural Medicare beneficiaries and rural health care providers are fairly represented on this committee, we ask that the committee have proportional representation from rural states and districts to the number of Americans residing in rural areas. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Statistical Supplement for 2004 (2001 data), rural beneficiaries comprise 26.8 percent of the overall Medicare population. As you know, rural seniors face unique challenges in both receiving quality health care. The rural elderly are generally sicker, older and frailer than their urban counterparts. Rural elderly are more likely to have chronic conditions such as arthritis, hypertension, diabetes and heart disease. They are also likely to be required to travel a greater distance when seeking care than urban counterparts. Rural seniors deserve representatives on this committee who have first-hand knowledge and substantial understanding of the realities of accessing health care services in rural and frontier regions. The needs, challenges, and opportunities in rural health care facilities are also vastly different from those faced by their urban counterparts. Higher percentages of Medicare beneficiaries, recruitment challenges, workforce issues, and unique budgetary issues are all examples of areas where rural facilities differ from their suburban and urban counterparts. A true understanding of the differences in the delivery systems for rural America is vital to understanding the current funding levels and payment mechanisms that Congress has put in place. It is, therefore, vital to these facilities, patients, and the rural health care safety net that members of this new committee come from rural states and districts. These members must also understand the economic impacts of these rural facilities on their local economies. In many rural areas, the local healthcare facility accounts for up to 20% of the entire local economy. Rural health care attracts an educated workforce, increases the ability of the community to attract business and private enterprise, and raises the general standard of living for everyone in the community. Including those who understand this intimate connection is vital to future economic growth in rural communities as well as the protection of the rural health care safety net. We again encourage you to adequately represent rural America when deciding who will sit on this new committee. Please consider the need for full equity for all Americans when choosing those who will sit on the committee. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to call David Lee on my government affairs staff at 202-639-0550 or by e-mail dlee@nrharural.org. Sincerely, Alan Morgan CEO National Rural Health Association