U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) Chairman, U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce ready for Cures Agenda.
According to the World Health Organization in 2011, the U.S. spent more on health care per capita ($8,608), and more on health care as percentage of its GDP (17.2%), than any other nation. Moreover, last year Bloomberg released a study that ranked the efficiency of the U.S. healthcare system 46th among 48 countries.…
With most rural healthcare facilities built under the Hill-Burton Act of 1946, many are in critical need of upgrades or replacement to deliver 21st century health care throughout rural America. Meeting increasing healthcare demands including preventative, palliative and other care services are becoming impossible to provide with limited financial resources and antiquated facilities. And, while…
Leading industry experts, researchers and federal lawmakers know that the 
current U.S. healthcare system is the largest factor that contributes to the U.S.’ current and future fiscal woes. Healthcare costs continue to increase and demographic and other trends show increasing costs will escalate in future years.
Over the past few years Congress has attempted to fix the ailing healthcare system but those attempts have yielded few realistic results. The Justices sitting on the nation’s highest court have decided on the constitutionality of the 2010 Affordable Care Act. In the ruling, the court upheld one of the most controversial provisions, the individual mandate requiring people to have health insurance, is permissible as a tax.
Moreover, all of this is occurring amidst a growing crisis in the availability of about 267 drugs including blood thinners, heart medications, cancer treatments, antibiotics and anesthesia. This crisis has been growing since 2005 when about 61 drugs were in short supply. The American Hospital Association states that 82 percent of hospitals throughout the U.S. believe these delays are life threatening.…
To : Rural Hospital Supporters
From : Dr. Lonnie L. Hammargren, M.D.
RE : Federal Rural Hospital Legislation
Dear: Friends:
My name is Dr. Lonnie Hammargren, M.D., having been a decorated Vietnam combat physician, NASA Flight Surgeon, University Regent, Nevada’s 31st Lieutenant Governor and practicing Neurosurgeon for over 40 years, I am writing you today to discuss an important issue regarding our deteriorating rural healthcare system which has resulted in the closure of over 20% of our rural hospitals.
Anyone associated with rural healthcare knows that most of our nation’s 2000 plus rural hospitals were built under the Hill Burton Act of 1946 and surpass 50 years of age. Advancements in patient care and medical technology have outpaced these facilities’ abilities to adapt to 21st Century healthcare making them inefficiently obsolete and cost prohibitive to remodel let alone operate. Many rural hospitals are no longer able to serve their community to its fullest, requiring many rural resident’s to travel long distances to receive even basic healthcare services.…
During the President’s speech to a Joint Session of Congress on September 8, he said, “Every proposal I’ve laid out tonight is the kind that’s been supported by Democrats and Republicans in the past.” Typically, the opposition party would be totally dismissive of such remarks, but with the U.S. economy on the ropes and a U.S. electorate demanding action to remedy it, that’s why many congressional Republicans cannot totally dismiss the remarks of the President.
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60 million Americans are living in rural communities throughout the U.S. and according to Cornell University, since the 1960s, the rural population has aged more rapidly than its urban counterpart. Hospitals serving rural populations have also been aging. In fact, rural hospitals average over 50 years of age and these facilities have already out-lived their lifespan and are unable to meet the demands of modern medicine and technology.
Rural healthcare organizations are challenged to meet the minimum financial requirements of Local, State, or Federal assistance programs to replace aging facilities due to current debt levels and capital needed to fund their development. Additionally, programs providing for the start-up and operational funding needed to stabilize a new facility, once built, are limited by the the already over stressed, local taxing districts. It is estimated that over 14% of rural hospitals throughout the U.S. have been lost over the past ten years and at the current pace that figure will be progressively exceeded. Simply waiting for better economic times is not an option.…
