Weekly Column:   –  “Last week, I conducted five health care round tables throughout our congressional district.  In West Plains, Van Buren, Poplar Bluff, Cape Girardeau and Farmington, the events gathered community leaders, health care policy experts and – most importantly – the people who deal with the subject every day in our Missouri communities.

I was very glad to gather the doctors, technicians, medical professionals, hospital administrators, pharmacists, insurers and patient advocates who must deal with the daily challenges of our current system of health care.  Barriers to access, gaps in medical technology, high costs for prescription drugs, and difficult access to medical insurance lead the list of problems.  So, too, do low federal reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid visits create a no-win hardship for rural providers who must take a loss on many of the Medicare and Medicaid patients they accept.

If we do not act, many of these problems will grow.  The difficulties will be more acute in rural areas than in urban ones.  Under the existing system, many of our rural providers will have trouble staying in business.  During an economic downturn, health care is one of the three most urgent issues facing Southern Missouri.

The good news is that we can solve many of these problems, and everyone in the rooms we filled last week is committed to doing so.

As we worked to chart a completely nonpartisan course forward on health care reform, I took copious notes in every region of our rural congressional district.  All five of the meetings brought good ideas and legitimate concerns to the discussion, and I will be taking all of those comments with me to Washington.  Furthermore, all five round tables had a few key elements in common which ought to be encouraging to every citizen in Southern Missouri who now needs, or who will in the future need, our health care system.

First and best, everyone from health care providers to insurers to employers to patients is willing to cooperate to enact meaningful reforms.  Only with the highest level of cooperation will we keep our rural health care system open, accessible and operating.  Everyone in the room was willing to make small sacrifices as long as everyone in the system is also sacrificing along with them to make the tough job of providing quality care easier – without cutting services or benefits.

Second, each group with which I met wants to bring new talented individuals to work in the health care field in rural Missouri.  They understand that the future of our hospitals and medical practices depends on quality doctors, pharmacists, nurses and medical technicians.  In addition, they recognize that in many communities where there are few options for care, residents often don’t seek care at all or can’t travel long distances to see a primary care physician. 

Prevention was, appropriately, a third hot topic.  Reducing barriers to access often prevents small, inexpensive health problems from becoming serious, very expensive ones.  If we can assure that routine care catches these problems early on, we can save taxpayer programs billions in more expensive treatments for late-stage illnesses.  This is the part of health care reform that requires us to tackle the national problem of the uninsured.

And, last but not least, it was apparent at each of my round tables that the quality and caring of our medical professionals is second to none.  We have skilled and sincere men and women working in the health care field in Southern Missouri.  They are committed to their patients, and they want to build a better, stronger system of care for the future.  I’m committed to them, and I am working to keep the standards of care and benefits high for our district and the nation.”