Presidential Document2023-25743
National Rural Health Day, 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 20, 2023
Signed
November 15, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 222 (Monday, November 20, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 222 (Monday, November 20, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 80551-80552]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25743]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 80551]]
Proclamation 10674 of November 15, 2023
National Rural Health Day, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
America's rural communities are indispensable to who we
are as a Nation, where over 60 million people who live
in rural America fuel our economy and help forge our
future. On National Rural Health Day, we recommit to
investing in rural communities and delivering
affordable, quality health care so that generations of
rural Americans can thrive.
No one should have to lie awake at night wondering if
they can afford or access health care for their family,
but that is the reality for so many in rural America.
Rural Americans are more likely to live in poverty, be
older, and have disabilities while also having fewer
health care providers within reach. We know that when
rural Americans do not have the chance to thrive in
their local economy, they leave home in search of
opportunity elsewhere. When they do, small businesses,
schools, and rural hospitals suffer, and the services
and support systems people need to succeed disappear.
Since 2010, over 150 rural hospitals have either closed
down or stopped providing in-patient care, damaging
rural economies where hospitals are often one of the
largest employers and leaving families scrambling for
health care.
When I came into office, I was committed to investing
in rural America, starting with the health and well-
being of its residents. Our American Rescue Plan
directed $8.5 billion to rural providers so they could
keep hospitals and clinics open during the pandemic. We
also supported the establishment of a new Rural
Emergency Hospital designation, which provides
struggling rural hospitals with a new option for
maintaining a presence within the community. We have
provided $1.5 billion in scholarships and student loan
assistance for rural clinicians and nurses so that
medical personnel can fill these critical roles.
My Administration has also worked to modernize and
support rural health care facilities by providing
millions of dollars to provide direct health services,
expand infrastructure, and supply technical assistance
to rural hospitals facing financial distress. Further,
we have made historic investments in the expansion of
rural broadband and services that can be delivered via
telehealth to Medicare beneficiaries.
We are also tackling some of the health crises that
impact rural communities by working to improve maternal
health, address the mental health crisis, and beat the
opioid epidemic. My Administration's Blueprint for
Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis lays out our
vision for making America the best country in the world
to have a baby. Expanding mental health and substance
use disorder services remains a core pillar of my Unity
Agenda. That is why we are recruiting, training, and
supporting more providers across the country as part of
the largest-ever investment in these types of programs.
Additionally, we are investing in the next generation
of rural Americans, fighting for a future where all
children have the resources they need to live full and
healthy lives. That is why my Administration released a
national strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related
diseases in America by 2030--including advancing a
pathway to provide free, healthy school meals for
[[Page 80552]]
all children. We are also working to support schools in
sourcing more local food for on-campus meals, bringing
new revenue to farms and increased economic development
in rural communities.
At the same time, we are lowering health care costs for
every American, no matter their zip code. We expanded
health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act,
saving millions of families up to $800 a year on their
health care premiums. I also signed the Inflation
Reduction Act, which capped the cost of insulin at $35
per month for people with Medicare. The Inflation
Reduction Act also empowered Medicare to negotiate
lower drug prices for the first time in American
history. The first ten drugs Medicare selected for
negotiation treat everything from blood clots to cancer
and are used by nine million people. Building on this
progress, we are also requiring prescription drug
companies to reimburse Medicare if they raise prices
for seniors at a higher rate than inflation, which will
save some seniors as much as $618 on every dose of
their medication.
Finally, my Administration is implementing historic
legislation that will help rural Americans find more
opportunities in their hometowns. Through my Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law, rural Americans are being hired to
rebuild safer bridges, roads, and highways in their own
communities and to bring clean water, clean energy, and
high-speed internet to their neighbors. Companies are
investing hundreds of billions of dollars to create
thousands of jobs across America--including rural
America--and are manufacturing more products in rural
communities.
I have often said that health care is a right, not a
privilege. On National Rural Health Day, we recommit to
this principle and to putting affordable, quality
health care within reach of all rural Americans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 16,
2023, as National Rural Health Day. I call upon the
people of the United States to reaffirm our dedication
to the health and well-being of rural America.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
fifteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-25743
Filed 11-17-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 20, 2023.
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