Political Quotes

“You have heard today so many tales of tragedy and disparity across our country in rural America, but also through the legislation, bills, and advocacy that we have seen from our Bipartisan Rural Health Caucus members, so many opportunities for us to do good by rural America. As I close today, I appreciate all of our Members who have come forward to share their stories from across this great country. Let me highlight an article that was recently run in The Washington Post that focused on the fact that more people in Puerto Rico are dying at higher rates because of these healthcare disparities and lack of access to a health system. As we take a look at the numbers, as we know, Puerto Rico has been devastated by natural disasters, compounded by COVID-19 already stressing a very strained healthcare system. They are lacking professionals in the community to be able to serve their residents. The fact is that they only have one working ambulance for 25,000 people in a town. Too often, by the time the call is made and the ambulance shows up at the home, those people have already passed away. The fact is that they had 35,400 deaths last year in 2022 for a population of 3.3 million, thousands more than researchers could ever have expected, historical highs that they are seeing compounded as a result of a strained healthcare system that is unable to take care of its people.…”