We know the challenges for people living in rural areas look different than in the urban areas of our country. This is especially true for seniors. Ensuring the government doesn’t ignore our rural areas has been a priority of mine since coming to Congress.
The problem: The rise in grocery prices because of inflation has hit seniors on fixed incomes particularly hard.
The solution: The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides healthy food boxes to roughly 760,000 low-income seniors each month; however, participation in rural areas is lagging. I helped introduce the bipartisan Delivering for Seniors Act to ensure Iowa’s rural communities aren’t left behind.
Our bill empowers states to build out a home delivery option as part of this program. This will help more seniors in rural areas – whose access to transportation is limited – be able to receive these fresh food boxes, like their counterparts in urban areas.
This is just one program we’re overhauling to ensure it works for Iowans in rural areas:
- My bill, the ReConnecting Rural America Act, works to improve access to broadband in our rural counties to support schools, hospitals, farms, families, and more.
- I’ve helped introduce legislation, the Veterans Jobs Opportunity Act, to support veterans who are looking to start small businesses in rural communities.
- I’m also working to make telehealth more accessible in rural areas. Our Protect Telehealth Access for Rural Americans Act will make telehealth services permanently covered under Medicare.
Additionally, I introduced the Protecting American Benefits Act to ensure Social Security, Medicare, and VA benefits are protected.
Bottom line: ensuring rural Americans, including our seniors, are not left behind is a central part of my mission in Congress.