{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom-news-releases-barrasso-leads-bill-to-modernize-rural-health-care/", "Barrasso Leads Bill to Modernize Rural Health Care", "2023-02-01", "2023", "2023-02", "Republican", "Senate", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", "barrasso", "https://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom/news-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) was joined by U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) in introducing The Rural Health Clinic Burden Reduction Act to provide regulatory relief for rural health clinics.\n\nThis bipartisan bill will provide necessary updates to modernize the 30-year old law governing rural health clinics across the country. It gives these clinics guidance regarding the use of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, improves the ability of rural health clinics to provide mental health services, and removes outdated lab requirements.\n\n\u201cAs co-chairman of the Senate Rural Health Caucus, one of my top priorities is improving health care in Wyoming,\u201d said Senator Barrasso. \u201cRural health clinics have faced outdated and burdensome regulations for far too long. Our bipartisan legislation provides the necessary updates to ensure providers are able to give patients the high quality care they deserve.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhen I meet with families, farmers, businesses and community leaders in greater Minnesota, one of the first issues that comes up is health care,\u201d said Senator Smith. \u201cThis bipartisan legislation will help modernize outdated laws that hamstring rural health clinics and improve access to care in rural communities. I\u2019ll keep working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this passed.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs I meet annually with community leaders across all 95 counties in Tennessee, improving access to rural healthcare is consistently top of the discussion,\u201d said Senator Blackburn. \u201cThis bill will update outdated federal regulation and remove regulatory burdens for our rural health clinics, bringing quality care closer to home for rural America.\u201d\n\n\u201cColoradans across the state rely on rural health clinics to access care in their communities, but unnecessary and outdated regulations weigh down providers\u2019 ability to deliver high quality, affordable health care,\u201d said Senator Bennet. \u201cThis bill cuts three decades old red tape, modernizing a vital part of our nation\u2019s health care system and allowing for trusted providers to improve and expand their services.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis legislation would provide immediate cost-savings to our rural health clinic by removing outdated lab requirements and aligning RHC policies with state scope of practice laws. The RHC Burden Reduction Act of 2023 is a long overdue package of common-sense burden reduction policies that, if passed, will support a continued focus on our mission providing healthcare to rural, underserved populations.\u201d \u2013 Jeff Mincy, CEO of Platte Valley Clinic in Saratoga, WY\n\nThe legislation is also endorsed by the National Association of Rural Health Clinics, the National Rural Health Association, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Academy of Physician Associates.\n\nFull text of the legislation can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T17:47:45Z"]], "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://www.barrasso.senate.gov/newsroom-news-releases-barrasso-leads-bill-to-modernize-rural-health-care/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8645053021609783, "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"}