Hello, I’m Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. It’s a pleasure to share a message on the occasion of National Rural Health Day.
I want to offer special thanks and congratulations to the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, which created this event 10 years ago as a way to highlight the creative and innovative spirit we see from all American rural healthcare providers.
As part of this year’s event, this coalition of state rural health offices has recognized 48 “Community Stars” from across the country.
Americans on the frontlines of providing healthcare in rural parts of our country are heroes on any given day, but this year, they’ve also taken up the additional challenge of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and I want to thank every rural health provider who’s played a role in that.
Many of these Community Stars are also HHS grantees, working in Rural Health Clinics, community health Centers, and critical access hospitals. Some of them have received support for their training through the National Health Service Corps. Others have been part of HHS-supported efforts at improving rural healthcare quality.
Our hats are off to all of these community stars, and to every dedicated rural healthcare provider.
Rural health issues have a special importance to me, as I grew up in rural eastern Maryland. I am proud that, under President Trump, we’ve put a new focus on rural health, as an impactable challenge where we can make a real difference.
For the past three years, we’ve had a Rural Task Force hard at work on ways to deliver that transformation.
In September, we released the HHS Rural Action Plan, which laid out a Four-Point Strategy to guide our work. First, building a sustainable health and human services model for rural communities; second, leveraging technology and innovation; third, focusing on preventing disease and mortality; and fourth, increasing access to care, with a particular focus on strengthening the rural workforce.
The Rural Action Plan highlighted key accomplishments across HHS over the past four years and identified a number of new efforts that we supported in 2020.
I’ll mention just a few major highlights: As part of an ongoing initiative to focus on rural cancer control efforts through the National Cancer Institute, we’ve delivered more than $11 million in new funding. We reduced regulatory burdens for rural providers in Medicare and addressed challenges of rural hospitals in low-wage areas through targeted adjustments to the Medicare Wage Index.
We’ve targeted more than $300 million to address the opioid epidemic in rural America through HRSA’s Rural Community Opioids Response Program. We began the nationwide expansion of the Indian Health Service’s Community Health Aide Program, which I’ve had the chance to see in action in rural tribal communities in Alaska.
The Rural Action Plan came in response to President Trump’s August executive order on expanding access to telehealth and improving rural healthcare. Since then, in response to the EO, we also reached a new Memorandum of Understanding with USDA and the FCC to work jointly on a rural telehealth initiative, and we proposed a new payment model to transform rural healthcare delivery.
We’re keenly aware of the important role that rural hospitals, clinics, and State Offices of Rural Health have played in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve sent more than $180 million specifically to support rural hospitals, expand telehealth, and assist tribal communities during the pandemic. We’ve also made sure that rural hospitals and clinics were able to receive more than $11 billion in support through the Provider Relief Fund, helping to keep them open at a time when many have faced serious financial challenges.
Our goal for rural health in America is not just to expand access to care and improve health—it’s to drive a transformation of rural healthcare so that we can have a better, sustainable model that draws on the insights of rural communities themselves.
That’s why it’s so fitting that this National Rural Health Day emphasizes the “Power of Rural.” We’re eager to continue working with you to maximize the power of rural America and draw on the innovative spirit you bring to your work.
Thank you for your efforts on behalf of rural America, and keep up the good work.
