The Biden-Harris Administration is actively implementing measures to enhance the well-being of rural communities and support the sustainability of rural healthcare providers. These initiatives include:

Building on Existing Legislation: Leveraging the Affordable Care Act and Inflation Reduction Act to expand access to affordable health coverage and care for residents of rural communities.

Sustaining Rural Hospitals: Implementing strategies to keep more rural hospitals operational, ensuring they can continue providing essential services within their communities.

Empowering the Rural Health Workforce: Strengthening the rural health workforce, focusing on bolstering primary care and behavioral health providers.

Facilitating Access to Care: Supporting access to crucial care services, including behavioral health, through promoting telehealth services.

These actions underscore the administration's commitment to reducing healthcare costs for rural Americans and facilitating access to high-quality healthcare in rural America. With over sixty million residents in rural areas facing unique challenges, such as higher rates of poverty, an aging population, increased likelihood of being uninsured, higher disability rates, and fewer available healthcare providers, the administration recognizes the need for targeted efforts.

The Affordable Care Act has played a crucial role in decreasing the rates of uninsured rural individuals nationally. However, challenges persist, especially in non-Medicaid expansion states, where the rate of uninsured individuals living in rural areas has fallen at a slower pace. Over 150 rural hospitals have faced closures or stopped providing inpatient hospital services since 2010. Being in a Medicaid expansion state significantly reduces the likelihood of rural hospital closures.

Rural communities often grapple with limited local healthcare providers, with more than half of rural counties lacking access to hospital-based maternity care and 70% lacking a single psychiatrist. This situation necessitates patients to travel considerable distances to access essential healthcare services. The Biden-Harris Administration is actively addressing these challenges to ensure equitable access to quality healthcare for all Americans, regardless of their geographic location.

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