Opinion Editorial: Rural communities lack access to health care. The Inflation Reduction Act isn’t helping
By Richmond Time-Dispatch
Opinion Editorial from Burton Eller, National Grange Legislative Dir.
Growing up on my family’s Southwest Virginia farm, I knew our rural community was unique. My friends and neighbors were fiercely independent, resourceful and mutually supportive in tough times.
I did not know then that some members of my community, whom I admired for their strength and self-reliance, struggled silently with mental illness. No one discussed these problems: anxiety, depression, substance abuse and even suicidal thoughts.
Years later, I still call rural Virginia home. My friends and neighbors still possess those qualities. But, thankfully, the veil of silence surrounding rural mental health is beginning to lift.
Nonetheless, I worry that a single provision of President Joe Biden’s signature piece of legislation — last year’s Inflation Reduction Act — could reverse much of that progress. It could end up preventing rural Americans from accessing necessary mental health care.
