{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://barrett.house.gov/media/press-releases/barrett-joins-harrigan-davis-increase-rural-access-quality-health-care", "Barrett Joins Harrigan, Davis to Increase Rural Access to Quality Health Care", "2026-09-17", "2026", "2026-09", "Republican", "House", "MI", "Tom Barrett", "B001321", "barrett.house.gov", "barrett", "https://barrett.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Today, Congressman Tom Barrett (MI-07) joined Congressmen Pat Harrigan (NC-10) and Don Davis (NC-01) in introducing the Resources for Essential Access to Community Health (REACH) Act. This bipartisan legislation would incentivize health care professionals to serve rural areas and address critical workforce shortages.\n\n\u201cToo many of our rural communities don\u2019t have enough doctors and nurses to provide essential care for the local residents who need it,\u201d said Barrett. \u201cWhere you live should never be a barrier to accessing quality care. By providing an incentive to attract these professionals to our communities, our bipartisan REACH Act will make health care more affordable and accessible for families in rural mid-Michigan.\u201d\n\nBackground\n\nSpecifically, the REACH Act (H.R. 10440) would provide a tax credit of up to $10,000 for primary care physicians (including OB-GYNs), mental health professionals, nurses, and medical residents who work at least 900 hours per year in a rural area. The tax credit would decrease for individuals making more than $170,000.\n\nRural communities face especially severe shortages of medical professionals. Approximately 61% of federally designated Health Professional Shortage Areas are in rural communities, including Eaton and Shiawassee counties.\n\nThe legislation builds on the historic Rural Health Transformation Program, which Barrett and his colleagues passed into law last year to lower costs and expand access to health care in rural communities. Michigan will be receiving $173 million through the program, including $25 million announced this month to improve technology and internet infrastructure to help rural residents access quality health care.", 1, "2026-09-18T09:27:43Z", "2026-09-18T09:29:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://barrett.house.gov/media/press-releases/barrett-joins-harrigan-davis-increase-rural-access-quality-health-care"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5677521005272865, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}