February 4, 2020 - Issue: Vol. 166, No. 23 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 2nd Session

[Page H758]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             RURAL AMERICANS NEED ACCESS TO EMERGENCY CARE

  (Mr. GREEN of Tennessee asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GREEN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, over the past decade, more than 
100 rural hospitals have been forced to close their doors, including 12 
hospitals in Tennessee. These communities are now left without access 
to healthcare in general, let alone emergency care.
  Many rural hospitals across the Nation continue to face significant 
financial difficulties. As this crisis continues at a growing rate, 
current Federal regulations stand in the way, only allowing a free-
standing emergency department within 35 miles of a hospital.
  My bill, the Rural ER Access Act, would repeal this ridiculous 35-
mile rule to permit free-standing emergency departments to operate in 
the rural communities that need them the most.
  As an emergency medicine physician, I believe that we should and can 
make sure that rural Americans are not left without access to emergency 
care because of some unnecessary bureaucratic regulation.

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