Presidential Documents

80551 

Federal Register 

Vol. 88, No. 222 

Monday, November 20, 2023 

Title 3— 

The President 

Proclamation 10674 of November 15, 2023 

National Rural Health Day, 2023 

By the President of the United States of America 

A Proclamation 

America’s rural communities are indispensable to who we are as a Nation, 

where over 60 million people who live in rural America fuel our economy 

and help forge our future. On National Rural Health Day, we recommit 

to investing in rural communities and delivering affordable, quality health 

care so that generations of rural Americans can thrive. 

No one should have to lie awake at night wondering if they can afford 

or access health care for their family, but that is the reality for so many 

in rural America. Rural Americans are more likely to live in poverty, be 

older, and have disabilities while also having fewer health care providers 

within reach. We know that when rural Americans do not have the chance 

to thrive in their local economy, they leave home in search of opportunity 

elsewhere. When they do, small businesses, schools, and rural hospitals 

suffer, and the services and support systems people need to succeed disappear. Since 2010, over 150 rural hospitals have either closed down or 

stopped providing in-patient care, damaging rural economies where hospitals 

are often one of the largest employers and leaving families scrambling for 

health care. 

When I came into office, I was committed to investing in rural America, 

starting with the health and well-being of its residents. Our American Rescue 

Plan directed $8.5 billion to rural providers so they could keep hospitals 

and clinics open during the pandemic. We also supported the establishment 

of a new Rural Emergency Hospital designation, which provides struggling 

rural hospitals with a new option for maintaining a presence within the 

community. We have provided $1.5 billion in scholarships and student 

loan assistance for rural clinicians and nurses so that medical personnel 

can fill these critical roles. 

My Administration has also worked to modernize and support rural health 

care facilities by providing millions of dollars to provide direct health services, expand infrastructure, and supply technical assistance to rural hospitals 

facing financial distress. Further, we have made historic investments in 

the expansion of rural broadband and services that can be delivered via 

telehealth to Medicare beneficiaries. 

We are also tackling some of the health crises that impact rural communities 

by working to improve maternal health, address the mental health crisis, 

and beat the opioid epidemic. My Administration’s Blueprint for Addressing 

the Maternal Health Crisis lays out our vision for making America the 

best country in the world to have a baby. Expanding mental health and 

substance use disorder services remains a core pillar of my Unity Agenda. 

That is why we are recruiting, training, and supporting more providers 

across the country as part of the largest-ever investment in these types 

of programs. 

Additionally, we are investing in the next generation of rural Americans, 

fighting for a future where all children have the resources they need to 

live full and healthy lives. That is why my Administration released a national 

strategy to end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases in America by 2030— 

including advancing a pathway to provide free, healthy school meals for 


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80552 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 222 / Monday, November 20, 2023 / Presidential Documents 

all children. We are also working to support schools in sourcing more 

local food for on-campus meals, bringing new revenue to farms and increased 

economic development in rural communities. 

At the same time, we are lowering health care costs for every American, 

no matter their zip code. We expanded health care coverage through the 

Affordable Care Act, saving millions of families up to $800 a year on 

their health care premiums. I also signed the Inflation Reduction Act, which 

capped the cost of insulin at $35 per month for people with Medicare. 

The Inflation Reduction Act also empowered Medicare to negotiate lower 

drug prices for the first time in American history. The first ten drugs Medicare 

selected for negotiation treat everything from blood clots to cancer and 

are used by nine million people. Building on this progress, we are also 

requiring prescription drug companies to reimburse Medicare if they raise 

prices for seniors at a higher rate than inflation, which will save some 

seniors as much as $618 on every dose of their medication. 

Finally, my Administration is implementing historic legislation that will 

help rural Americans find more opportunities in their hometowns. Through 

my Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, rural Americans are being hired to rebuild 

safer bridges, roads, and highways in their own communities and to bring 

clean water, clean energy, and high-speed internet to their neighbors. Companies are investing hundreds of billions of dollars to create thousands of 

jobs across America—including rural America—and are manufacturing more 

products in rural communities. 

I have often said that health care is a right, not a privilege. On National 

Rural Health Day, we recommit to this principle and to putting affordable, 

quality health care within reach of all rural Americans. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States 

of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution 

and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim November 16, 2023, 

as National Rural Health Day. I call upon the people of the United States 

to reaffirm our dedication to the health and well-being of rural America. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day 

of November, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of 

the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 

forty-eighth. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25743 

Filed 11–17–23; 8:45 am] 

Billing code 3395–F4–P 


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