Providing healthcare in rural and underserved areas is a constant challenge that only grew worse over the last two years, Vice President Kamala Harris said in remarks touting a $1.5 billion initiative designed to increase access to those communities.
The plan, announced Monday, will support more than 22,700 healthcare providers, including doctors, dentists, nurses, and behavioral health specialists. Notably, it will provide scholarships and loan repayments for students if they train and work in “hard-hit and high-risk” areas that often struggle to recruit doctors.
With medical school debt often exceeding $200,000, one of the goals is to help diversify the workforce through greater financial assistance.
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“These professionals will look like America and will be better prepared to provide equitable care to America,” Harris said.
Only about 7% of physicians are black or Hispanic, according to the White House, compared to more than a quarter of doctors in the National Health Service Corps, which is one of the groups that will benefit from the program.
The money comes from the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that President Joe Biden signed in March. Combined with a $785 million initiative to build vaccine confidence in rural areas and within low-income populations, nearly $2.3 billion has been allocated just in November toward providing healthcare in underserved parts of the United States.
“COVID-19 did not invent health disparities,” Harris said. “Ask any healthcare professional, and she will tell you health disparities existed long before this virus reached our shores.”
People in rural areas — who tend to be older, heavier, and have lower vaccination rates — are dying of COVID-19 at more than twice the rate of urbanites. Access to care is also difficult in many sparsely populated places, which appears to have worsened since the advent of COVID-related restrictions.
During the speech, Harris mentioned efforts such as setting up vaccination sites, providing free public transportation, and sending mobile vaccination units to populations struggling to reach a health clinic or schedule an appointment.
She also called on Congress to approve the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better Act, saying it will reduce health insurance premiums, close the Medicaid coverage gap, and invest in maternal health.
The announcement allowed Harris to headline a positive development after a tumultuous few weeks. The vice president saw her communications director resign last week amid historically low approval ratings, with some rumors of Biden even replacing Harris before 2024. One of the issues was that Harris was perceived as being given thankless tasks such as handling the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, whereas potential rival Pete Buttigieg oversees the broadly popular infrastructure package.
Leading a healthcare initiative designed to protect vulnerable residents in high-poverty areas could be a win for Harris and her team.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy spoke before Harris, sharing the story of how he came to work in medicine and how he’s honored to serve under the first black and first Indian-American vice president.
Murthy noted that black, white, and Hispanic people now enjoy similar vaccination rates, which he attributed to the government “keeping equity centered in our COVID-19 response.”
Both initiatives come after the Presidential COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force issued its final report last week. Harris introduced a bill during her last year in the Senate that led to the task force’s creation.
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“There’s work to be done, but I believe we’re headed in the right direction,” Harris said.
