Graves, Missouri Lawmakers Champion Rural Health, Unlocking Access to Quality Care for Rural Communities

In a letter sent to Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe, Missouri Department of Social Services Director Jessica Bax, and Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Sarah Willson highlighting the RHTP program as a critical lifeline for rural Missouri and calling on officials to incorporate key policies in their application for RHTP resources, Congressman Sam Graves (MO-06), Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08) and members of the Missouri congressional delegation detail the immense health care challenges facing such communities:

"For the 20 percent of Americans - 60 million in total - that live in rural communities, insufficient access to health care is a daily crisis and contributes to worse health outcomes. These patients are often forced to drive an hour or more for basic medical services and face critical barriers when trying to receive specialized services such as oncology or maternity and obstetric care. The inability to directly and efficiently access care is devastating to rural communities across the country. It is unsurprising that rural patient cancer mortality is 13 percent higher than that of urban patients; that rural maternal mortality is twice as high as urban maternal mortality; and that rural mortality overall is 43 percent higher than urban mortality across natural causes. Access challenges are worsened when rural communities lose these critical service lines, or worse, their entire hospital facilities. Missouri has had 12 rural hospitals close in the past decade, reducing access to care for thousands of Missourians. Nationwide, nearly 200 rural hospitals have closed in that timeframe, while more than 100 rural hospitals have stopped providing maternity services in just the last five years. Nearly 400 rural hospitals have stopped providing chemotherapy services since 2014. We are committed to identifying the root causes of rural America's health care access problem and engaging in meaningful solutions, such as the RHTP, to improve health care for the 60 million American families that need it most."

Read the full letter from members of Missouri's Congressional delegation here.