Marsha Blackburn: “I wanted to speak for a few minutes today to talk a little bit about rural healthcare and to ask my colleagues for help…”

“I wanted to speak for a few minutes today to talk a little bit about rural healthcare and to ask my colleagues for help in protecting the 20 percent of Americans who live in rural areas who are in danger of losing--or may have lost entirely-- access to healthcare in their communities. Since 2010, 118 rural hospitals have shut their doors. Fourteen of those facilities are in my State of Tennessee. Medical practitioners are paying attention to this trend and, more often than not, choose stability in the cities and suburbs over the uphill battle that comes with practicing medicine without access to the funding and modern resources many clinics now take for granted. As a result, rural patients are left to suffer through illnesses or emergencies or sacrifice time, money, and mileage for even the chance of a diagnosis. This system is broken, but this year, I have been able, by working with my colleagues on each side of the aisle, to kind of pick up the pieces around this. I have a three-bill rural health agenda, which comes at the direct request of smalltown mayors and local leaders who are struggling in my State to keep these communities afloat. Last week, my fellow Tennesseans, Congressmen Kustoff and Roe, introduced House companions to all three pieces of legislation. I will tell you, I have been talking to Tennesseans, and they want my colleagues in the Senate to know what we should do about this issue.…”