Political Quotes

“First of all, I thank my colleague from Virginia for hosting and coordinating this time tonight on an incredibly important issue for rural America. Madam Speaker, this year marks the 30th anniversary of the 340B Federal drug pricing program. I am very familiar with this program, having worked for 28 years in rural hospitals where this 340B program was incredibly important for consumers, for patients, to be able to get access to the medications that they require but also equally important as a lifeline for our rural hospitals. Rural hospitals today, in my experience, having worked within these facilities for almost three decades, most hospitals are lucky to break even, especially rural hospitals. It is very challenging financially, but we know how important they are. We know that these tend to be the economic engines within our rural communities. These are the source of great jobs. This is access to quality healthcare. When these rural hospitals close, the economic impacts, the healthcare impacts, the health impacts are significant and negative for those communities. I can't tell you how many times, Madam Speaker, I have seen the 340B program be the difference between a red, losing year, where you bleed money, you lose money--and you can do that for only so long until a hospital has to shutter its doors and lay people off--and perhaps breaking even or even just a slight margin. In rural healthcare, a rural hospital, a 1 to 2 percent margin is a banner year.…”