Rural Healthcare Challenges - Rural cancer patients face later diagnoses, increased uninsurance/underinsurance, and worse outcomes due to their location [8] - The "rural cancer gap" shows widening mortality rate disparities between rural and urban areas since 1999 [8] - Nearly 20% of Americans live in rural areas, but only 3% of oncologists practice there [9] - Kansas rural provider to patient ratio exceeds 500 to 1, compared to urban areas closer to 80 to 1 [12] - 140 hospitals have closed in the past 10 years, with a projection of 600 more at imminent risk [13] - Cancer care accounts for 30-40% of hospital revenue nationwide, but is increasingly diverted to urban centers [13][14] - Hospitals are closing at a rate of two per month [15] - Only 2% of clinical trials are offered in rural areas, creating "clinical trial deserts" [15] Proposed Solutions - Expand Medicaid, support rural providers with loan forgiveness and flexible training, and decentralize clinical trials via mobile units and telemedicine [17] - Change the narrative around rural cancer patients and value them [18] - Implement technology innovation, such as hub and spoke models and empowering community navigators with technology [19] - The rural oncology home model partners patients with local providers and leverages telehealth to access specialized oncologists [20]

You represent a district that has four hospitals, all designated as rural and at risk of closure. What does the potential passage of this bill means for mean for those hospitals in your district. Well, thank you for having me.But, uh, as you've already said, those four hospitals in my district, uh, will not make it if this bill pass. uh most of them have already cut all their services basically to the bone. They don't deliver babies anymore.Two of them don't have emergency rooms and for the most part they'r ...