WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a leader of the Rural Health Caucus, and U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS) announced today that their bipartisan legislation to strengthen rural health care delivery systems and improve access to high quality services for individuals living in rural and underserved areas passed out of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Their State Offices of Rural Health Reauthorization Act, which funds the State Offices of Rural Health grant program, builds on Heitkamp’s work to improve access to affordable care in rural communities like those across North Dakota. Rural areas face many unique health care challenges, including higher uninsured rates, workforce shortages, and transportation issues.  

“Rural communities are the heart of North Dakota, but they often face health care challenges because of their remote locations and access to few doctors, which can make it more difficult to access quality, affordable health care. Our bipartisan bill would help address that challenge by allowing State Offices of Rural Health to continue to receive the critical support they need to bolster the rural health workforce, increase affordability of local clinics and hospitals, and seek long-term solutions for problems facing both rural patients and providers,” said Heitkamp. “As co-chair of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, I’m committed to improving health service for all citizens, regardless of their zip code, and today is an important step in addressing rural health challenges in North Dakota and across rural America.”

Heitkamp and Roberts’ bill would help provide rural communities with the resources they need to strengthen the rural health delivery system and improve access to quality care for citizens in these areas. All 50 states have state offices of rural health (SORHs) that serve an essential role in assisting and providing resources for rural health care providers.

The National Rural Health Association offered their support for the legislation, saying, “State Offices of Rural Health help provide rural communities with critical resources to improve rural health care and expand access to quality, affordable care for individuals in rural communities. This legislation, the State Offices of Rural Health Reauthorization Act of 2017, will allow these crucial offices to continue operating through 2022.”

The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health has also endorsed the legislation. The bipartisan bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), John Barrasso (R-WY), Bob Casey (D-PA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Doug Jones (D-AL), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Scott (R-SC), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).

Earlier this month, Heitkamp pushed for several wins for rural health care in the recent budget deal signed into law, including a two-year extension of federal funding for Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, and the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education program, which focuses on increasing the primary care workforce, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Additionally, the deal includes a five-year extension of Medicare home health and rural ambulance add-on payments, which are critical to North Dakota’s rural health care providers. Heitkamp urged Senate leadership to extend these and other rural health policies last September and in this budget deal.

Heitkamp has consistently worked to improve access to health care for rural communities in North Dakota and across the country. Responding to the concerns of rural medical professionals, health leaders and advocates across the state, the Senator introduced bipartisan legislation to incentivize medical professionals to serve in high-need, rural areas and make commonsense regulatory changes that recognize the reality on the ground in rural health care delivery. And in 2016, Heitkamp unveiled a series of bills that would make sure the federal government is listening closely to the needs and challenges of rural communities in North Dakota and across the country when accessing critical resources like health care.

Heitkamp also successfully pushed to create the Rural Health Council within the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services that will put greater emphasis on rural health care when federal rules are written. In 2016, she brought HHS Acting Deputy Secretary Dr. Mary Wakefield – a North Dakota native – to Mayville where they met with rural health care providers and experts to discuss the health care needs in rural communities and how the federal government must respond.

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