The National Grange has recently come to the defense of community pharmacists in rural areas, many of whom are in danger of losing their businesses to drastic changes to Medicaid at the state level. In states such as Texas, with large rural populations, many pharmacies have been forced to either close completely or make the difficult choice to turn away their Medicaid patients.
From their recent for Pharmacy Choice and Access Now:
Dealing with the ever-increasing shortage of healthcare professionals has been quite difficult for rural residents in recent years. Currently, there are almost 2,200 Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) in rural areas, in contrast to 910 in urban cities. This stems from the fact that only 10% of all physicians practice in rural areas. Similarly, rural populations average 40 dentists per 100,000 residents. Psychiatrists and psychologists are even harder to come by, with 25% of nonmetropolitan counties lacking mental health services, compared to just 5% in urban counties. Over 470 rural hospitals have closed in the past 25 years, causing many rural Americans to drive over 150 miles to the nearest major hospital. Obtaining care this way, especially infused services such as chemotherapy, can be extremely burdensome.
Facing these limitations, the roles of pharmacies become dramatically important within rural communities. Lacking doctors and hospitals, the local pharmacist is often the only health care specialist available. Rural patients rely on the local pharmacist to help manage their medications and provide basic health care advice. This is especially true for elderly residents who are more likely to have chronic health conditions with multiple prescriptions.
With rural communities already facing the issue of fewer health care providers than in other parts of the country, can we really afford to be losing one of the most important providers in many patients' lives?
The rural community pharmacist plays a role that is too important to ignore: please visit Pharmacy Choice and Access Now and find out what you can do to keep these pharmacies in business!