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Postal proposal could have been worse

February 8, 2013 By 1 Comment

The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to cut mail delivery on Saturdays and that could overly burden rural Americans, especially senior citizens according to Rhonda Perry, program director of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. She concedes that the proposal could have been worse. Perry tells Brownfield Ag News, “I do think that there were earlier proposals that could have been even more damaging.”

The Postal Service says it would save about $2 Billion a year by delivering packages-only on Saturdays. It would maintain its Monday through Friday delivery of ALL mail items.

Perry says there are a high number of senior citizens in rural areas who don’t have internet access and rely on postal delivery of medications through the VA system, “All of those things really add up in terms of a slowdown for people in terms of getting their mail and even critical medicines and medications –so- we are concerned that this will have an inordinate effect on rural communities.”

It’s unclear whether the postal proposal needs Congressional approval. The postal service says its new schedule would begin in early August, 2013.

AUDIO: Rhonda Perry (3:00 mp3)

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , ,

Noem against postal plan due to rural concerns

February 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

South Dakota Congresswoman Kristi Noem says she does not support the US Postal Service’s plan to cut back mail delivery on Saturdays. With South Dakota being a rural state, she says the postal service should review all available options before making decisions that “affect South Dakotans and the rest of rural America.” The proposal would still have packages delivered on Saturdays, just not regular letters and mail.

Noem says she understands the postal service has to take steps to be financially viable but its service is “critical to the way families and businesses operate.”

 

Filed Under: Human Interest, News Tagged With: , , ,

Rural group concerned over postal cuts

February 6, 2013 By 1 Comment

The U.S. Postal Service has announced plans to cut mail delivery on Saturdays and that could overly burden rural Americans, especially senior citizens.

Rhonda Perry is program director of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center. She concedes that the proposal could have been worse.  Perry tells Brownfield Ag News, “I do think that there were earlier proposals that could have been even more damaging.”

The Postal Service says it would save about $2 Billion a year by delivering packages-only on Saturdays. It would maintain its Monday through Friday delivery of ALL mail items.

Perry says there are a high number of senior citizens in rural areas who don’t have internet access and rely on postal delivery of medications through the VA system, “All of those things really add up in terms of a slowdown for people in terms of getting their mail and even critical medicines and medications –so- we are concerned that this will have an inordinate effect on rural communities.”

It’s unclear whether the postal proposal needs Congressional approval. The postal service says its new schedule would begin in early August, 2013.

Filed Under: Human Interest, News Tagged With: ,

Rural health care programs extended in fiscal cliff fix

January 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Several rural health care programs were extended in the fiscal cliff bill passed by Congress and signed by President Obama that also extended the farm bill for one year. Garrett Hawkins, national legislative director for the Missouri Farm Bureau, tells Brownfield Ag News that the Low-Volume Hospital Program and the Medicare-Dependent Hospital Program have also been extended for a year.

“Both are really aimed at trying to help provide stability to small, especially rural hospitals and, ultimately, continue to have that access there to health care especially that’s so important to seniors,”  Hawkins tells Brownfield Ag News.

AUDIO: Garrett Hawkins (4:00 mp3)

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , ,

Rural health care programs in fiscal cliff bill

January 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

There’s not been much talk about it but several rural health care programs were extended in the fiscal cliff bill passed by Congress that also extended the farm bill for one year.  Garrett Hawkins, national legislative director for the Missouri Farm Bureau, tells Brownfield Ag News that the Low-Volume Hospital Program and the Medicare-Dependent Hospital Program have also been extended for a year.

“Both are really aimed at trying to help provide stability to small, especially rural hospitals and, ultimately, continue to have that access there to health care especially that’s so important to seniors,” says Hawkins.

The fiscal cliff bill also extended the Medicare Physician Payment provision which prevents reductions in Medicare payment rates and guarantees continued access for seniors to their doctors which Hawkins says most people are aware of.

While Hawkins says farm bureau members have concerns about the federal Affordable Care Act (‘ObamaCare’), rural health care needs to be part of the discussion.

“The health care debate is far from over and we should be having these discussions,” Hawkins tells Brownfield, “And, they’re important because as we talk about the federal deficit and the growing federal debt we need to figure out what the priorities are. And, for rural areas, having that access to health care is extremely important.”  Hawkins says the Missouri Farm Bureau supports quality, affordable, accessible health care for all rural Americans.

AUDIO: Garrett Hawkins (4:00 mp3)

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Human Interest, News Tagged With: , , , , ,

Rural medical program towns selected

August 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Five South Dakota towns have been chosen for the first clinical sites for the University of South Dakota’s medical school to expand health care into rural areas.

The Sanford School of Medicine’s Frontier and Rural Medicine or FARM program has picked Milbank, Mobridge, Winner, Platte and Parkston – each town has fewer than 10-thousand people.

Medical students will be picked in the coming months for nine months’ clinical training in those areas. FARM program director, Dr. Susan Anderson says there’s a lot of excitement about the program that will expose students to the rewards of practicing medicine and living in a rural community. Students will have to design and implement a program to address a local health concern.

The goal is to increase the number of doctors who practice in rural South Dakota.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Human Interest, News Tagged With: , , ,

Meeting the need for rural physicians

April 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In terms of health care, rural communities are often underserved.  According to Mark Meurer with the University of Illinois College of Medicine Rural Medical Education program, 82 percent of Illinois’ rural counties are considered underserved.  With approximately 500 doctors in rural Illinois at or near retirement age, he says there is a need for primary care physicians in rural areas.

One of the goals of RMED, Meurer says, is to recruit students from the state of Illinois with rural backgrounds.  “They have to be rural,” he says.  “We have a phrase we use – it’s called ‘ruralality’ – and we have to have students in our program that understand what it’s like to grow up in a rural community.”

UIC’s RMED program is one of a few rural medical programs nationally that has curriculum that spans all four years of medical school.  “Our students will go to class with everyone else at the University of Illinois College of medicine,” he says, “they receive the same exact medical school education as all other graduates.”  The difference is, Meurer notes, “Our students also take a supplemental curriculum that focuses on issues that are more pertinent to rural doctors.”

The RMED program was established in 1993 and has graduated 211 students. Meurer says currently there are 164 graduates still practicing – 118 of them in Illinois.

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , ,

Vilsack says health law improving rural lives

March 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

New rules for farm accident victims:   Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters Wednesday that by removing insurance barriers to emergency services, through the Affordable Health Care Act, rural Americans can now get care outside their health plan network when there isn’t time to travel to a hospital located further away. 

“When there is an accident on the farm and someone has been severely injured,” Vilsack says, “They don’t have to try to figure out which health care provider is in their network that they can go to where they need to go to get the quickest and best care available to save their life and to minimize their injury.” 

Vilsack says the USDA has worked to help implement a number of improvements for rural health care in the health care law that is now two years old.  He says nearly 600 rural health care facilities serving 11 million Americans have been improved; telemedicine grants and loans have been provided in 730 counties; and, with the Department of Health and Human Services, incentives have brought thousands of primary care workers into rural areas.

USDA – Secretary Vilsack on Affordable Care Act

Filed Under: Human Interest, News, USDA/Government Tagged With: ,

Rural America would feel a postal pinch

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If the proposed U.S. Postal Service cutbacks go into effect, Rural Americans could feel the pain much more than others.

Faced with red ink, the Postal Service is proposing changes to first class delivery and has a number of small post offices, mostly in rural areas, slated for closure. Missouri Rural Crisis Center Program Director Rhonda Perry, tells Brownfield that could especially hurt senior citizens are less likely to use the internet to pay their bills and many are unable to travel longer distances, “It is a very serious issue for farmers, for rural families and really, particularly, for senior citizens who often don’t have the ability to travel and to connect in other ways.”

And, Perry says, there could be serious medication delays, “Veterans in rural areas who depend on the V-A for their medical service are completely dependent upon the U.S. Postal Service for receiving all of their medications.”

Areas where broadband internet still hasn’t arrived, along with reduced postal services, Perry says would create a double hardship for rural residents. She urges people to contact their lawmakers.

AUDIO: Rhonda Perry (7:00 mp3)

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: , , , ,

Postal cutbacks could hurt rural Americans

December 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

If the proposed U.S. Postal Service cutbacks go into effect, Rural Americans could feel the pain much more than others.  Faced with red ink, the Postal Service is proposing changes to first class delivery and has a number of small post offices, mostly in rural areas, slated for closure.  Missouri Rural Crisis Center Program Director Rhonda Perry, tells Brownfield that could especially hurt senior citizens who are less likely to use the internet to pay their bills and many are unable to travel longer distances to get their mail, “It is a very serious issue for farmers, for rural families and really, particularly, for senior citizens who often don’t have the ability to travel and to connect in other ways.”

And, Perry says, there could be serious medication delays, “Veterans in rural areas who depend on the V-A for their medical service are completely dependent upon the U.S. Postal Service for receiving all of their medications.”

Areas where broadband internet still hasn’t arrived, along with reduced postal services, Perry says, would create a double hardship for rural residents. She urges people to contact their lawmakers to express their concerns about the proposed Postal Service cutbacks.

AUDIO: Rhonda Perry, Missouri Rural Crisis Center (7:00 mp3)

Filed Under: News, Top Stories, USDA/Government Tagged With: , , , , ,
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