Congressman Young Announces Alaska, Hawai"i Frontier Legislation to Increase Rural Access to Healthcare

Press Release

Alaskan Congressman Don Young today joined Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) to announce a new piece of bipartisan legislation to ensure the federal government recognizes the unique hardships of providing quality healthcare options in rural areas of Alaska and Hawai'i. The bill, H.R. 5592, would allow Alaska and Hawai"i to decide which areas of the state should be considered rural and, in turn, eligible for federal grants and programs dedicated to improve healthcare services in rural areas.

The bill will allow Alaska and Hawai"i to make their own state-designated Frontier Areas. Currently, the federal government determines the areas based on a statistical model that does not take into account the unique geographical challenges facing both states.

"We face many challenges in Alaska when it comes to accessing healthcare, particularly when it comes to the unique and non-traditional travel required to reach villages and towns that have medical facilities," said Congressman Young. "Our problems in rural Alaska are too important to ignore and we should not place one-sized fits all restrictions on communities that clearly need our support. The State of Alaska knows best when it comes to understanding our unique geography and our people, and I believe they should be the ones to decide which communities are considered rural. The federal government must understand that."

"Hawai"i should be able to determine its own Frontier Areas because the current federal process doesn't know or serve our communities, therefore negatively impacting the ability of our rural areas to qualify for certain federal assistance," said Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who met with concerned rural community health leaders last month. "The problem with the federal standards is that it relies on population numbers and physical distances from urban areas without fully recognizing how long it can take to drive from Hāna or how a bad rainstorm can completely shut off Hau"ula from Honolulu. The federal government cannot rely solely on numbers to understand the reality our island residents face."

In addition to allowing Alaska and Hawai"i to use state-approved definitions for "rural" areas, H.R. 5592 would also create another frontier category for other areas facing geographic remoteness that are not adequately reflected by simple distance and population figures.

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