Why I’m joining the Congressional Rural Health Caucus

Too many families across Upstate New York are struggling to make ends meet. As I met with voters across New York’s 19th congressional district, I heard stories from young families worried about paying the rent when the utility monopolies jacked up rates, and I heard from seniors who cut back on the groceries to afford prescription drugs.

I also heard from both patients and nurses, especially in our rural communities, who are rightfully frustrated with our health care system. Patients pay too much, wait too long and travel too far for care, all while nurses and technicians are overworked and underpaid. Meanwhile, the health insurance companies are raking in ridiculous profits at everyone else’s expense.

Health care should be a civil right in America, not something that bankrupts working families or drives exorbitant corporate profits. Throughout my career, I’ve fought for children in poverty who needed access to health care, and I’ve worked across the aisle to improve access to addiction treatment and mental health services.

Continuing that work in Congress will be one of my top priorities. That’s why when I am sworn in in a few weeks, one of my first acts will be to join the bipartisan Rural Health Caucus, where I’ll be pushing for the following:

Promoting Telehealth. Folks in rural communities too often need to miss school or work and drive long distances to see a doctor. Instead, we should promote telemedicine when appropriate so people can get the care they need from their own home.

To do this successfully, we need more reliable broadband access in rural communities, and health insurance providers should cover the costs of telehealth appointments just like in-person appointments. Medicare has done that with success since the pandemic began, but that policy will expire at the end of the year unless Congress takes action, which it should do, and which I’ll support.

Supporting Rural Health Care Workers. With low wages, large workloads and high costs, it’s no wonder that it’s become so difficult to recruit and retain health care providers in underserved communities. Provider shortages create a vicious cycle: as providers leave the profession, the workload for those who remain goes up, causing more providers to leave the profession, causing higher workloads, and so on.

Our healthcare professionals work tirelessly to provide quality care for our communities, and they deserve our support. That’s why I’ve been proud to stand with the rural healthcare providers of 1199SEIU (United Healthcare Workers East) as they fight for fair contracts. It’s why I will support policies in Congress that provide good wages and benefits for healthcare workers who come to and stay in rural communities.

Expanding Access to Mental Health Care in Schools. We’re in the midst of a mental health crisis, particularly among our youth, and especially in our rural communities. One way to address the problem is by hiring more mental health counselors to work in schools, meeting students where they are. Kids should not need to miss school to travel long distances to get the mental health care they need; it should be available down the hall instead. And if more kids see their classmates getting help, it should reduce the stigma associated with it. So I’ll support the Increasing Accessing to Mental Health in Schools Act, a bipartisan bill that would invest in school psychologists.

Combating the Opioid Epidemic. Though some progress has been made in recent years, too many of our family, friends and neighbors are still being killed by opioids. We need to secure the border to stop the fentanyl trafficking, and I will support law enforcement’s efforts to get it off our streets. For those struggling with addiction, we simply need more treatment facilities. Those investments are cost-effective for taxpayers in the long-run, and they’re the right thing to do to save lives.

Josh Riley is the Representative-elect for New York’s 19th Congressional District, which covers all of Tompkins County, and all or part of  Cortland, Broome, Chenango, Otsego, Delaware, Sullivan, Ulster, Greene, Columbia, and Rensselaer Counties.