Advocacy: What's on the Rural Health Policy Agenda in 2023?
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The National Rural Health Association will shine a light on rural health policy this week in Washington, D.C. The national nonprofit, whose 21,000 members represent a diverse group of individuals and organizations dedicated to improving rural health, will hold its Rural Health Policy Institute Feb. 7-9 on Capitol Hill.
What’s on the agenda?
The NRHA lays out its 2023 requests to lawmakers in three areas: Rural Health Infrastructure, Rural Health Workforce, and Rural Health Equity.
The requests include the reintroduction of several bills impacting health care in rural communities, including:
* The reintroduction of S.644, the Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act. This bill would ensure stabilization of small rural hospitals, the association says.
* The reintroduction of S. 1512 / H.R. 2903, the CONNECT for Health Act of 2021 or S. 1988 / H.R. 5425, the Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act to ensure that rural providers are able to continue providing services via telehealth.
* The reintroduction of H.R. 8812, the Improving Care and Access to Nurses Act (ICAN) Act, to allow advanced practice registered nurses to practice at the top of their license and alleviate the workforce shortages in rural areas.
Learn more and see all of the policy requests: NRHA policy requests
