Preserving Rural Healthcare Access is Literally Life and Death

Floor Speech

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Ms. RANDALL. Mr. Speaker, as the Representative of a district full of forests, mountains, and rugged coastlines that are beautiful but often mean a long drive to the hospital, I know that preserving rural healthcare access is literally life and death in our communities.

Tribal health clinics, federally qualified health centers, rural hospitals, and independent providers are facing challenge upon challenge upon challenge. At Grays Harbor Community Hospital, I saw firsthand how tariffs are driving up costs for medical devices and supplies, adding financial strain to already stretched rural facilities.

The hospital recently invested in a new MRI machine, a critical upgrade that offers faster scans and higher resolution images, but because of tariffs, they had to pay significantly more money to purchase this machine. That is money they now can't use for other things.

Advanced medical equipment like this is increasingly expensive under the Trump administration. Add to that the Medicaid cuts in the big, ugly bill and the end of the ACA tax credits, the strain and uncertainty is challenging.

On National Rural Health Day, we should be working together to expand care, not making it more difficult for rural communities.

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