Despite higher rates of chronic disease in rural areas vs. their urban counterparts, rural America's health care infrastructure is collapsing. Since 2010, about 150 rural hospitals have closed or been converted to other facilities, and fewer than 4 in 10 rural hospital beds are typically occupied – substantially less than urban areas.
Rather than repeating the mistakes of the past, President Donald Trump's administration will deliver unprecedented investments to rebuild rural health care infrastructure and address the root causes of the health care crisis facing rural America.
The status quo has failed rural patients. The human cost is devastating: worse health outcomes, longer travel times for care and entire communities losing their health care lifelines. Throwing money at struggling hospital operations is like a Band-Aid on a severed artery, leaving a broken system in place.
In the Working Families Tax Cut Act, Congress created the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program to address the underlying problems that cause rural health care to fail. President Trump and congressional lawmakers have entrusted us with stewardship of $50 billion to transform rural health care delivery across all 50 states.
