
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994                   TAG: 9406260067
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LEGISLATORS ADVANCE BILLS TO BOOST RURAL HEALTH CARE

Residents of rural areas are entitled to the same inexpensive, quality health care that people in the cities receive, says Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County.

Four bills to amend President Clinton's health-care reform package - developed by Payne and Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., to achieve that goal - passed the House Ways and Means Committee Saturday.

Payne, who represents the 5th District in Virginia, said in a press release Saturday that the amendments will ensure that the needs of rural doctors and health clinics will be met.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 14 of the 17 counties in Payne's district, which includes Bedford, Franklin and Henry counties, are medically underserved.

"We can and we must do better," Payne said in his release.

The amendments, if included in the final health care package, would:

Include rural hospitals and clinics in the community health network grant program. The grants, which were originally geared to benefit urban areas, will fund better communication between rural clinics, hospitals and referral services.

Expand development of the managed care option for Medicare recipients to rural areas.

Payne's assistant, Ford Drummond, said, "A lot of Medicare recipients can participate in HMOs, but they currently only exist in urban areas. Managed care is the fastest growing area of Medicare, and rural areas should have access to that."

Make it easier for medical schools to train more general practice physicians.

"Most of the money that's being funded goes toward schools that keep their doctors in the hospital, usually to be trained in a speciality," Drummond said. The amendment redirects some money so that hospitals that send their students out to rural areas, and train them to be general practitioners, will receive funds, he said.

Provide grants that would connect urban hospitals to rural facilities through telecommunication linkages. This would supply up-to-date medical information to areas that typically are out of touch with medical advancements.

Drummond said Payne expects the amendments to stay relatively intact as Congress scrutinizes the reform bill.

"I think the bi-partisan effort (in the Ways and Means Committee) shows that support for this comes from both sides of the aisle."

by CNB