Murphy Applauds Passage of Rural Health Care Legislation by House Ways and Means Committee

Today, Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. issued the following statement in response to the House Ways and Means Committee's passage of H.R. 8235, the Rural Physician Workforce Preservation Act, and H.R. 8154, to permanently extend telehealth services for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs):

"Protecting high-quality, accessible, and affordable health care for rural communities is one of my top priorities," said Congressman Greg Murphy, M.D. "As a physician of over 35 years, serving 29 counties in Eastern North Carolina, I uniquely understand the challenges rural America faces in accessing care. We must address the critical physician workforce shortage our non-metro communities experience and preserve the opportunity for all patients to utilize telehealth services. It is well known that if a medical student comes from, or a resident rotates into, a rural area they will be much more inclined to come practice there after their studies. I'm grateful for the support of Chairman Smith and my colleagues for these bills critical to Eastern North Carolinians."

Background

H.R. 8235, the Rural Physician Workforce Preservation Act, ensures that unallocated graduate medical education (GME) slots created in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 go to hospitals located in rural areas, passed 24-16.
 
H.R. 8154, to permanently extend telehealth services for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), was included in H.R. 8261, the Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act, which passed 41-0.