Eva M. Clayton: “I come from rural North Carolina. I am here to talk about another issue, which I will do later, but I could not pass up…”

“I come from rural North Carolina. I am here to talk about another issue, which I will do later, but I could not pass up the opportunity of reaffirming how important the subject you are talking about is, how the 1997 Balanced Budget Act affects hospitals, and to also share with you that the implication is even more severe for those of us who live in rural America. Just think that if indeed you think about the delivery system or the infrastructure for health care being at peril in urban areas, think of rural areas of having already a severe shortage of providers and institutions and heavily dependent on Medicare reimbursement and Medicaid reimbursement, and, therefore, having private insurance to pay for most of their care is not a part of the equation in supporting rural hospitals or nursing homes or home health services or hospice services. They are heavily dependent on the participation of the Federal budget. So your raising this issue for us helps us to join with you from rural America to say that this is a nationwide project, it is a nationwide problem.”