Kustoff and Roe Introduce Rural Health Agenda to Bring Care to Underserved Communities

WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, Congressman David Kustoff (TN-08) and Congressman Phil Roe, M.D. (TN-01), introduced a Rural Health Agenda aimed at addressing health care delivery challenges in rural America and maintaining quality care close to home. The Rural Health Agenda includes three bills: the Rural Health Innovation Act, the Rural America Health Corps Act, and the Telehealth Across State Lines Act.

"As rural hospitals throughout Tennessee continue to close, many are left without access to emergency services. This has become a major problem, especially for folks in West Tennessee. That is why I introduced the Rural Health Innovation Act, which is included in this health care package. This bill will create two 5-year grant programs, allowing rural health departments to expand and build up their health services so they are prepared to meet the urgent needs of our communities," said Rep. Kustoff. "Together, these three pieces of legislation will fill gaps left by hospital closures and allow West Tennesseans to get the care they deserve. I would like to thank Rep. Roe for joining me in introducing this rural healthcare package, and I look forward to its quick passage."

"Tennessee has been hit particularly hard by the closure of rural hospitals. Many factors have contributed to these closures, and there's not one silver bullet to solve the problem. That's why I am proud to be working with Senator Blackburn, Representative Kustoff, and others on a package of three bills aimed at helping improve health care in rural areas. By expanding telehealth, we can improve accessibility and access to qualified providers. By offering loan repayment to physicians who do residencies in rural areas, we can expose physicians to the unique care needs of rural areas and potentially attract physicians to stay in these areas. Lastly, by offering innovation awards, we can encourage and expand the best ideas for improving health care access in rural areas. The problems will not be fixed overnight, but this package will go a long way toward addressing barriers to access in areas that often need care the most," said Rep. Roe.

"As Governor Bill Lee has said, Tennesseans deserve access to quality health care that they can afford, particularly in rural areas," said Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey, MD, MBA, FAAP. "This proposal is aligned with our goal of promoting access to needed health care services for Tennesseans, and we applaud Congressman Kustoff's leadership in supporting innovation in health care delivery in our state."

Background on the three pieces of the Rural Health Agenda

RURAL HEALTH INNOVATION ACT (H.R. 4898)

Sponsored by Reps. David Kustoff (R-TN), Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN) and Ann Kuster (D- NH)

• Creates two 5-year grant programs, administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Community-Based Division.
• One grant program would help establish for expanding FQHCs and RHCs capable of meeting the community's urgent care and triage needs.
  • Grants will be limited to $500,000 for existing facilities and $750,000 for startup facilities.
• The other grant program would expand rural health departments to meet urgent care and triage needs.
  • Grants will be limited to $500,000.
  • Communities must have an existing health department with a government-funded building, some nursing staff, and medical equipment
• Communities must be rural and be located at least thirty minutes from the nearest emergency department, using the speed limit on the most direct route from the proposed site to the nearest emergency department, or be inaccessible by road.
• Communities that have lost a hospital in the last seven years will have priority.

RURAL AMERICA HEALTH CORPS ACT (4899)

Sponsored by Reps. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN), David Kustoff (R-TN) and Cheri Bustos (D-IL)

• Creates a new loan repayment program titled "NHSC Rural Provider Loan Repayment Program."
• Ensures practitioners would be eligible for loan repayment on a sliding scale, based on the severity of the shortage in that area.
• Waives any associated income tax liability for the loan repayment program.
• Other than these provisions, the program would follow the same rules as the current NHSC program.

TELEHEALTH ACROSS STATE LINES ACT (4900)

Sponsored by Reps. Phil Roe, M.D. (R-TN) and David Kustoff (R-TN)

• Instructs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to initiate a rulemaking to create federal telehealth program best practices.
  • The Secretary should consult with range of stakeholders, including technology experts, primary care providers, specialists, surgeons, academic medical center, emergency medicine providers, federal agencies with expertise in this area, and more.
  • The Secretary must report on the progress of the rulemaking to the Congressional committees of jurisdiction.

• Creates a grant program to incentivize the expansion of effective telehealth programs to reach rural communities. To qualify, applications should:
  • Be an existing telehealth program
  • Run by a health care center of excellence such as an academic medical center
  • Have a planned expansion to a rural community as defined by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

• Instructs the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to create a model to incentivize the adoption of telehealth in order to increase access to care in rural areas.