Last week, as congressional Democrats continued to vote to keep the federal government closed, the Commonwealth of Virginia, along with the rest of the states, submitted our plan to unlock our share of the $50 billion provided in the Working Families Tax Cut Act, slated to transform the way we deliver healthcare to rural America.
Without a doubt, rural Americans face a gap when it comes to access to reliable healthcare. In Virginia, nearly 55% of rural localities are designated as Primary Health Care Professional Shortage areas, while 63% of Virginia localities lack an OB-GYN, and 22% of rural Virginians travel over 40 minutes to reach a labor and delivery unit. This fact has been often lamented over the decades, and frequently, the proposed solution has been massive subsidies that would do nothing to solve the actual problem.
Finally, we are working with the Trump administration to do something meaningful about it. The $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund created by the Working Families Tax Cut Act, is “an historic investment that will catalyze needed change in rural health systems and improve lives for generations to come,” according to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, which will “spark real change” for the people he rightly calls “the backbone of America.”
BILL CASSIDY OUTLINES PLAN TO GIVE OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES DIRECTLY TO PATIENTS
And that’s how we approached the commonwealth’s application — to “spark real change” and not just throw money at an existing set-up that leaves rural Virginians behind.
Our VA Rural Vitality plan proposes investing up to $1 billion over the next five years to ensure that every Virginian — no matter their zip code — can access high-quality care close to home. We tackle this goal through four key strategies:
First, we want to get the care Virginians need delivered closer to home, by expanding mobile units and telehealth services for primary care, increasing paramedicine, leveraging our amazing Emergency Medical Services corps to provide treat-in-place care and preventive visitations — especially for maternal care, expanding mobile community hubs, sustaining rural labor and delivery units, and focusing support on prenatal and postpartum care.
Second, we will accelerate the growth of our healthcare workforce by creating pathways for those raised in rural areas to find work in their hometowns. Over the last four years, we’ve added 30,000 licensed professionals to Virginia’s healthcare workforce, but the need remains even greater. Our plan will expand rural residency slots to attract physicians, expand high-demand credential and degree programs at community colleges, increase earn-to-learn apprenticeships across rural Virginia, and build on our new healthcare workforce lab school in Southwest Virginia by establishing high school health academies to get teenagers started on their rewarding careers caring for their loved ones and neighbors.
Third, we will leverage Virginia’s place as a home of the internet infrastructure that powers the entire modern economy with a technology-driven transformation at every stage of healthcare. We will launch a $282.6 million CareIQ Fund, which will provide grants to rural healthcare start-ups, support rural providers in the adoption of artificial intelligence-driven workflow tools to reduce administrative burden and burnout, modernize electronic health record systems, and expand the use of remote patient monitoring to track patient outcomes at home, as opposed to keeping people cooped up in facilities.
Finally, we want to empower people to manage their chronic conditions and lead healthier lives, thus preventing them from getting sick in the first place and keeping them out of the hospital and doctor’s office.
This includes changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to promote healthy eating by allowing prepared foods, such as rotisserie chicken, and discouraging the consumption of less healthy products. We will fund pilots to test and scale wearable consumer health technology that gives people the information to guide healthy decision-making. We will refit and expand community spaces so children can be active and not sit at home playing video games or doomscrolling. We will also recognize that food is medicine and start using nutrition to help improve chronic diseases.
EDITORIAL: A WELCOME END TO A POINTLESS SHUTDOWN
When I was blessed with the opportunity to run for governor, I hit the road and started a conversation with Virginians from every corner of the commonwealth about what we could do to make their lives better. I have kept that conversation going these past four years, and when the president and Congress delivered on this amazing Rural Health Transformation opportunity, we went back on the road to listen to our friends about what they needed to build a healthier tomorrow for their children.
Our rural communities are populated by hard-working, resilient, and strong people. They are the beating heart of America. With the VA Rural Vitality rural health transformation, we are making sure that heart beats stronger than ever before.
Glenn Youngkin (R) is the governor of Virginia.
