Rural Americans Need Lawmakers to Act for Health
As one of the millions of Americans proud to have roots in rural America, it saddens me to see hometowns like my own include many individuals facing health care challenges that are just as prevalent today as they were decades ago. Countless years of partisan squabbling in Washington have done little to adequately address these health care issues that need fixing. As the pressure mounts in an economy where rural Americans are seeing less in their savings and more in price hikes, the barriers they face to care only grow larger.
A recent Morning Consult survey of over 1000 rural voters highlighted their unique barriers to care and understandable frustration with lawmakers. For example, half of the rural voters have been surprised at the out-of-pocket costs they are expected to pay for care even though they have insurance. Paying more for medicines, for many Americans, can be the difference between renewing a medication or putting food on the table. Beyond their immediate financial impact, these devastating decisions deter patients from continuing their treatment plans or seeking future medical care. One in three rural voters cited high costs as their reason for avoiding the doctor’s office.
Mental health care is a specific example of what treatments rural voters struggle to access. In fact, 59 percent of rural voters agree that the cost of treatment is an obstacle to seeking mental health care. Now that Americans are talking more and more about mental health, many are becoming less reluctant to seek help through local and national programs. While promising for our nation, rural America continues to experience major geographic disparities in mental health programs, so affordability and treatment accessibility issues only double down on slowing efforts to break stigmas and increase care delivery.
All these issues are compounded by the pandemic, which has left many rural voters with elevated health care instability. Three-in-four of those surveyed said the pandemic heightened the need for affordable and accessible mental health care and treatment, with half even indicating the pandemic has made them more worried about their family’s access to health care.
Instead of addressing these alarming issues, many lawmakers are either dragging their feet or promoting impractical policies that do nothing to address rural America’s core health care issues. It is no wonder that 87 percent of rural voters say elected officials are out of touch with what the public needs from their health care. Such tone-deafness to the unique health and socioeconomic challenges rural voters face could further exacerbate their trepidation in seeking care and managing health conditions, threatening the health of millions of already vulnerable patients across America.
Two-in-three rural voters say that they will definitely vote in the upcoming midterm elections and with November right around the corner, lawmakers should prioritize the health care reforms their voters largely support, such as mandating health insurance companies to be more transparent about coverage, requiring insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to pass savings on to patients, and capping out-of-pocket costs. These policies are patient-centered and would ensure patients – no matter where they live – have timely and affordable access to the medicines and treatments they need, while putting savings back into their pockets.
Betsy Huber is the President of the National Grange, a nonprofit organization that engages in some commercial activities to support the civic, community, and member service activities conducted by about 1,500 local, county and state Grange chapters across the nation.
