An ER sign (iStock)
"And he was concerned about it because he could tell that you can't make patients healthy unless you have a healthy healthcare system for them to engage. So I'm very encouraged about what Secretary Kennedy and his staff are doing to try to make a difference on the pieces that they control."
He also said Congress must act, particularly as 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day and are therefore eligible for Medicare, which presents a different environment than separate Medicaid.
"That's where we see more volume of patients, more complexity, and much more clinical demand. But if the reimbursement in Medicare doesn't keep pace with that demand, once again, you're in this vicious cycle where emergency departments will be at greater risk, starting with the rural and underserved areas and moving forward from there."
Some in Congress have banded together to advocate for healthcare-related issues, including members of the bicameral "Doctors Caucus."
One member, Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., is a urologist from Greenville who previously served as chief of staff at a Level-I trauma center. "Congress cannot leave rural America behind," he said.
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"The most important thing Congress can do is to fix dwindling Medicare reimbursements for rural providers and ensure health insurance companies don’t play games with denied care and denied payments," he said, pinning the decrease at 33% since 2001 if adjusted for inflation," Murphy told Fox News Digital.
The lawmaker added that many hospitals in his area do not have commercial payers as part of their funding sources to help offset losses from Medicare and Medicaid disbursement amounts — and that all hospitals must root out waste as well.
Pilgrim was also asked why Americans outside the heartland with more reliable emergency care should be supportive of added funding or resources miles away from them.
"In a large city like Atlanta, if rural healthcare is not healthy and patients have to go somewhere else, they will eventually end up in your hospital… So spending a dollar somewhere else besides in your own hospital if you're in a better place makes a lot of sense for you…" he said.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
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