The coronavirus presents a unique crisis for America’s rural hospitals. Klobuchar has a plan to help them.
As Congress starts planning its next coronavirus relief package, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has shared her new plan for rural America exclusively with Vox.
Though much of the national media focus so far has been on “hot spots” like New York City and New Jersey, coronavirus has already hit America’s rural communities. And if it hasn’t yet reached a given area, it likely will in the coming weeks and months. A recent New York Times analysis found that as of April 6, two-thirds of rural communities have confirmed at least one coronavirus case; the number of cases could continue to rise.
Covid-19 is colliding with a weak health care infrastructure in rural areas with older and lower-income patients who have seen their local hospitals close. With far fewer resources than cities or suburbs, the 60 million people who live in rural areas could be devastated by coronavirus.
Rural communities are also being hit by the economic ripple effects of the virus’s spread. Some in rural areas have no access to high-speed broadband, which they could use to work remotely, file for unemployment, or get their kids logged on to virtual school. Farmers and ranchers fear the virus could wreak havoc on the food supply chain and their livelihoods. And people of color, including Native communities, are particularly at risk.
“We’re facing a national crisis — it affects every American, no matter where they live,” Klobuchar told Vox in a statement. “While COVID-19 may be slower to spread to some rural areas, its impact will likely be just as serious, as we’ve seen in places like Albany, Georgia and Martin County, Minnesota.”
Klobuchar’s plan is expansive. It includes some proposals like small-business relief, which was in the CARES Act and is part of another small-business loan bill negotiation between Republicans and Democrats. Other pieces have already been introduced as standalone bills. But now that the first coronavirus wave seems to be leveling off, the Minnesota senator recognizes a second wave could hit rural America particularly hard and wants her plan included in coronavirus stimulus packages to come.
As the coronavirus hit large urban areas like New York City, Detroit, and New Orleans, rural communities didn’t see many cases at first.
The lack of dense population might make it seem like these communities don’t have as much risk. But no one’s risk is zero.
“If we believe that the way seasonal flu spreads through the country is likely similar to Covid-19, the rural eruptions tend to be later and briefer but more impactful than in big urban areas,” Roger Ray, a retired neurologist, physician executive, and physician consulting director with the Chartis Group, recently told writer Lois Parshley for Vox.
And when coronavirus does hit, rural areas simply have fewer resources to deal with it. From 2005 to 2020, 170 rural hospitals around the country have closed, leaving critical gaps in the rural health care infrastructure. Physician shortages have followed; A 2019 poll conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found a quarter of people living in rural areas said they could not access needed health care — and many said it was because their health care facility was too far away.
Per Parshley:
More than half of counties in America have no hospital ICU beds, posing a particular risk for the more than 7 million people over the age of 60 living in those places, who are at higher risk of severe cases of Covid-19.
In February, the Chartis Group released a study showing that more than 450 rural hospitals are vulnerable to closure. “If you’re vulnerable enough to risk losing the ability of making payroll, how valuable can you be to the community in crisis?” Ray asks.
Even if these rural areas may not face coronavirus rates like New York City did, the virus could exacerbate some devastating trends.
Klobuchar’s proposal is a wide-ranging, four-part plan that takes into account everything from support for rural hospital and medical professionals to relief for farmers, increased rural broadband, and support for local governments.
“We need to ensure that all communities across rural America are not left behind and have the resources they need to respond to this pandemic,” Klobuchar told Vox.
Here are the main points of her plan.
As the coronavirus spreads to rural areas, Congress will likely have to extend more assistance to those areas. As a senator, former presidential candidate, and potential vice presidential contender, Klobuchar may be in a good position to make the case for helping Americans who live there.
Support Vox’s explanatory journalism
Every day at Vox, we aim to answer your most important questions and provide you, and our audience around the world, with information that has the power to save lives. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower you through understanding. Vox’s work is reaching more people than ever, but our distinctive brand of explanatory journalism takes resources — particularly during a pandemic and an economic downturn. Your financial contribution will not constitute a donation, but it will enable our staff to continue to offer free articles, videos, and podcasts at the quality and volume that this moment requires. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today.
Author: Ella Nilsen
Read More
Hundreds of “Freedom Convoy” supporters march in downtown Ottawa on Canada Day, July 1, 2022,…
Paige Vickers/Vox; Getty Images American conservatives are cozying up to British feminists who argue that…
A new study found that empathy among young Americans is rebounding after having reached worrying…
House Speaker Mike Johnson talks with members of the media following passage of a series…
A homeless man takes a break from clearing his belongings along the Santa Ana River…
Rachel Hillis for Vox Highlighting the unexpected ways our lives are connected with the natural…