Sen. Josh Hawley Introduces Bill to Fund Emergency Rooms in Rural America: ‘Lost Too Many Nationwide’

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced a bill that would provide monetary assistance to keep emergency rooms in hospitals in rural America open, pointing out that “We lost too many nationwide.”

During a press conference on Wednesday, Hawley spoke about the “vital importance of emergency care” in the country, and how the Rural Hospital Emergency Room Guarantee Act would provide $1 million a year to hospitals in rural America with emergency rooms. Hospitals and emergency rooms “in dire need” would be able to “ask for emergency payments of up to 50 percent more on an annual basis.”

Hawley also spoke about how in Missouri alone “Over the last twelve years, twelve rural hospital emergency rooms have closed,” representing one a year. The Missouri senator added that while health care in the United States “costs too much” and “It’s too difficult to get the kind of care that you need,” not having access to health care at all is “even worse than the cost.”

“Here’s what we propose today. We propose today to create a dedicated support for every rural emergency room in the United States of America. We don’t want to see another emergency room in rural America closed, not one. We’ve lost too many in Missouri, we’ve lost too many nationwide,” Hawley said. “What this legislation would do, it would create for the first time a new program that is very simple. It would provide $1 million a year to rural hospitals with emergency rooms in every state in the United States of America.”

Hawley explained that while this was “not a grant program,” hospitals would “have to certify” that they are actually located in a rural area.

“I just want to emphasize something that I think should be obvious and I know that every Missourian understands. You can’t replace an emergency room,” Hawley added. “You can’t replace it with an algorithm, you can’t replace it with a phone call. Tele-health is wonderful, but you can’t replace an emergency room with tele-health.”

According to a press release from Hawley, throughout the U.S., “Nearly 200 rural hospitals have shut their doors since 2005.”

While speaking with Fox News, Hawley stated that “Americans in rural communities across the country are confronted with a concerning shortage of access of emergency medical care.”

Hawley’s bill “would establish a mandatory, 10-year dedicated funding stream administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration,” according to the outlet.