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Jeremy Johnson, a political scientist at Carroll College in Helena, Montana, said he doubts the strategy will bring rural voters back to Democrats in the midterms. Montana Democrats made healthcare a top issue in the 2020 election and still got swept by Republicans in statewide and federal elections.
“It’s good that we’re discussing these issues, but it just seems like our system has evolved to be very combative,” said Johnson, who focuses on health in politics. “If people agree on things, they don’t even talk about it that much.”
Vilsack said the point is improving rural healthcare, not to score points for Democrats.
“Whether this gains political support or not isn’t the purpose,” Vilsack said. “The purpose of this is to basically say, ‘Look, we want you to know that when this law was written, it was specifically written with rural as well as other parts of the country in mind.’”
The grants announced Wednesday are the first stage of allocations from $475 million set aside for rural healthcare organizations through the American Rescue Plan Act.
How the money will be used varies from one grantee to the next. In Pittston, Pennsylvania — the site of the Agriculture Department’s announcement of the grants — the Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance Association is using its $226,900 to buy emergency care gear. In Atchison County, Kansas, a hospital will use its $414,800 to replace revenue lost during the pandemic.
In Terry, Montana, a hospital was awarded about $500,000 to upgrade its emergency room. Burt Keltner, CEO of the Prairie County Hospital District, said the critical-access hospital, built in the 1970s, had fallen into disrepair until staff began making upgrades after 2016. Keltner said that after two years of operating at the COVID political flashpoint, he’s relieved the hospital is working on a project that goes beyond the pandemic.
“The reality is our community is aging, and it’s not getting younger — people are leaving, people are dying,” Keltner said. “We are what those people are going to need whether they want us or not.”
Kaiser Health News is a national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation which is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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