Let’s Get Rural America Covered!

Let’s Get Rural America Covered!

November 16, 2016

By: Mary K. Wakefield, Ph.D., RN, HHS Acting Deputy Secretary

Like millions of Americans, Secretary Burwell and I are proud to call rural America home. As is the case in so many small towns, we both grew up with a strong sense of community – a sense that the way to accomplish almost anything was to do it together.  There was clear recognition that every person, every business, and every sector had a shared commitment to the well-being of the community and had something to contribute.
These values led me to my first job in high school – working as a nurse’s assistant in a small rural hospital in my hometown of Devils Lake, North Dakota.  Most of the people I cared for were people I knew and they were all people I cared about. These are the same values that have driven rural leaders across America to help their communities find affordable, quality health coverage.
Good health coverage is especially important for rural communities. As a nurse, I know that rural Americans face higher rates of serious chronic health conditions like diabetes and heart disease. For too long, lack of access to coverage stood as an enormous barrier between rural Americans and care needed to prevent and manage these and other illnesses. But thanks to the Affordable Care Act and the Health Insurance Marketplace, we’ve begun writing a new chapter for rural America.
READ MORE: Let’s Get Rural America Covered!