The gridlock in Washington is preventing any real progress on improving our health care and health insurance systems. Republicans have given up after failing to repeal the Affordable Care Act, or come up with a realistic alternative. Hopefully after this next election a new Congress can make progress on improving our health care system. Congressional candidate Dan Feehan, along with Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, are trying to make sure that the challenges and opportunities of our rural communities are part of that discussion. Too many people in southern Minnesota don’t have access to health care locally. Many must drive hours to get the care they need. Rather than fighting over the Affordable Care Act again and again, we need to look ahead for ways to address health care workforce shortages and ways to recruit and train providers in rural areas. We also need to highlight and support the great innovation happening in our rural communities that provides health care, not sick care, and that is really making a difference in the patient’s overall health, and that of our community.

Joshua Schuetz

Mankato