Rep. TJ Cox Leads Letter to Congressional Leadership on Rural Health Care
Today, Rep. TJ Cox (CA-21), along with 11 House colleagues, led a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to provide extra stimulus to rural communities which, for a variety of reasons, are especially vulnerable to the threat posed by the novel coronavirus.
The letter, addressed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, urges them to act under threat of a “unprecedented public health crisis.”
Statistically, rural Americans are “sicker, suffering higher rates of the six most nationally prevalent chronic diseases, several of which make these individuals more vulnerable to acute cases of COVID-19. Residents living in rural distressed zip codes, such as those in California’s Central Valley, have the lowest rates of hospital access in the nation.”
The letter suggests the investment of resources and further implementation of telemedicine, like the proposal in Congressman Cox’s BREATHE Act, would fill in some of the gaps currently in rural health systems, especially those in the Central Valley.
Rep. Cox’s cosigners to this letter include Reps. Cindy Axne (IA-3) Jim McGovern (MA-2), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Jim Costa (CA-16), Deb Haaland (NM-1), Steven Horsford (NV-4), Peter DeFazio (OR-4), Josh Harder (CA-10), Vincente Gonzalez (TX-15), Cheri Bustos (IL-17), and Darren Soto (FL-9)