[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1510]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

IN SUPPORT OF RURAL VETERANS HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2006

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HON. MICHAEL H. MICHAUD

of maine

in the house of representatives

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Mr. MICHAUD. Mr. Speaker, since the founding of our Nation, rural
Americans have always answered the call to service in times of war. One
in three of the patients seen at the Department of Veterans Affairs
lives in a rural community. Veterans who live in rural settings are
often older and have more physical and mental health diseases as
compared to veterans who live in suburban or urban settings. According
to the 2005 Institute of Medicine report, The Future of Rural Health,
the smaller, poorer, and more isolated a rural community is, the more
difficult it is to ensure the availability of high-quality health
services. With some 44 percent of current military recruits coming from
rural areas, we must help VA focus on meeting the pressing health care
needs of rural veterans.
I have introduced H.R. 5524, the Rural Veterans Health Care Act of
2006, to take a comprehensive and practical approach towards improving
care for our rural veterans by increasing community based facilities
and outreach, encouraging the training and recruitment of health care
professionals, focusing on research to develop innovative solutions to
the challenges of delivering rural health care, and developing the
information technology infrastructure we need to enhance health care
services in rural areas.
Rural America has always answered the call to service. We should do
everything we can to ensure that rural veterans have the same
reasonable access to the high quality care available through the VA as
veterans in suburban and urban areas. I urge my colleagues to support
rural veterans and pass H.R. 5524.
Mr. Speaker I would like to include in the Congressional Record a
letter of support for H.R. 5524, the Rural Veterans Health Care Act of
2006, from the National Rural Health Association.

National Rural Health Association,

Kansas City, MO, July 17, 2006.
Hon. Michael Michaud,
House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Dear Representative Michaud: On behalf of the National
Rural Health Association, I am writing to express our strong
support for H.R 5524, the ``Rural Veterans Health Care Act of
2006.''
The NRHA is a national nonprofit, non partisan, membership
organization with approximately 10,000 members that provides
leadership on rural health issues. The Association's mission
is to improve the health of rural Americans and to provide
leadership on rural health issues through advocacy,
communications, education and research. The NRHA membership
consists of a diverse collection of individuals and
organizations, all of whom share the common bond of an
interest in rural health.
The NRHA members are keenly aware of the disproportionate
rates at which rural people serve in the military and the
issues our rural veterans face in obtaining health and mental
health care in rural communities. We are pleased to see so
many provisions in this legislation to address these
concerns. In particular, the provisions which call for
expansion of and improved quality of services provided by Vet
Centers, Outreach Health Centers, and CBOCs in rural areas.
These services represent approaches that greatly increase
access to quality care for these vets. Vet Centers, as is
their role, will also educate returning rural veterans to
their benefits and the services they have earned.
The bill also addresses the long term care needs of rural
vets, the use of an electronic medical record system to
enhance patient safety and improve quality of care, takes
advantage of the groundbreaking IOM report on the future of
rural health care recommendations, and provides a provision
for the training of health care professionals in rural
facilities serving veterans. All of these provisions are
included in NRHA's support. The NRHA is especially supportive
of the call for a national Advisory Committee on Rural
Veterans, and offer up any assistance we might make in
recommending members for this committee should the
legislation be successful. In addition, we are pleased that
the legislation increases the number of rural rotations for
medical residents training at the VA and takes steps to
enhance the education, training, retention, and recruitment
of health professionals in rural areas. Research has shown
that rural rotations are effective in increasing the number
of medical personnel that choose to practice in rural areas.
The NRHA is supportive and involved in the dissemination of
research and resources developed by the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS) Rural Research Centers, therefore,
we support the provisions in the bill which would designate
at least four centers as the location for research targeted
at defining rural veteran health and mental health care
needs, and chronic disease management. NRHA is keenly aware
of the limited research on rural veterans and their families,
and this provision will begin to address the dearth of
research in this area.
The NRHA maintains a Minority and Multicultural committee
within our organization and develops many policy statements
regarding the unique needs of rural minority groups and
women. We are pleased to see the specific inclusion of Native
American, Native Hawaiian and Native Alaskan veterans in this
legislation. This legislation would expand VA's health care
presence in these rural and remote communities. The NRHA also
hopes that special consideration will also be given to the
unprecedented number of African American women and all women
serving at the highest rates ever seen in our country and the
special needs that they will bring into the VA system in just
a few short years.
The NRHA developed the first national policy paper as a
non-Veteran Service Organization on rural veterans in 2003-
2004, and we are pleased to see some of the recommendations
called for in our policy paper addressed in this legislation.
For these many reasons, the NRHA strongly supports your
efforts to urge Congress to enact the ``Rural Veterans Health
Care Act of 2006.'' Thank you for your leadership on this
issue.
Sincerely,
William Sexton,
President.

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