IMO, it is time to focus on shoring up the rural hospital system.

[CK_John]

It will require fighting science vs religion and will not be easy.

Also it will probably require a "single payer" system.

[Deb]

1. Aren't rural hospitals part of the National Security Infrastructure?

I would hope their continued existence is already a consideration.

[drray23]

2. Yes it should be part of whatever improvements we want to make to the aca.

In many areas, having a rural hospital is a matter of life or death. We have one in our area. The next closest big one is 50 miles away... If you are having an emergency like a heart attack you are good as dead without a closer one.

[MichMary]

3. Our rural hospital

has been swallowed up by a larger regional hospital chain. I know someone who was thought to be having a heart attack. The ambulance drove right past our ER-equipped hospital and took her to their main hospital, nearly an hour away. That hour could have meant the difference between life and death.

Also, I wonder about transfers and referrals. My dh had a major emergency about a decade ago, which our local hospital was not equipped to treat. I was offered a choice of two major hospitals, and my dh was treated by a Harvard-trained doc in a state-of-the-art facility. I wonder if I would have a choice now, or if they would have to automatically refer to a hospital within their own system.

[drray23]

5. When my wife badly shattered her leg

She was transported to that little rural hospital. They determined she needed immediate surgery (one of the bone fragments was fraction of inches toward the femoral artery) . I asked that she be send to a specific hospital. They made the calls and got her transferred by helicopter. Costed us $150.00, that's it. It's the copay for the ER. The ER doc at the rural hospital did spend 40 minutes on the phone with the insurance company to make sure we had an approval before proceeding.

[maxrandb]

4. I'm sorry, but Fuck That!!

Maybe we should wait until the "rural" voters start rejecting Republican racists before we get all "bleeding-heart" with them