Lauren continues to advance legislation in order to: Support rural health care systems
Support rural health care systems.
Occurrences
Evidence
Lauren continues to advance legislation in order to: Expand the mental health workforce Support rural health care systems End our nation’s maternal health crisis Modernize our public health data infrastructure
Ms. Underwood (for herself and Mr. Mann) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture ... To prioritize health care facilities and mental or behavioral health facilities in the Community Facilities program for fiscal years 2026 through 2031, and allow loans and grants under the program to be used for medical supplies, increasing telehealth capabilities, supporting staffing needs, or renovating and remodeling closed facilities.
Representative Lauren Underwood introduced the Prioritizing Rural Hospitals Act, bipartisan legislation co-led by Rep. Tracey Mann (R-KS). The Prioritizing Rural Hospitals Act would address the pressing health care disparities that rural communities face by prioritizing funding for rural health care facilities applying for Rural Development funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Representative Lauren Underwood ... announced that she has secured $2,565,000 in Community Project Funding to support food security in the Illinois Valley, rural health care, and the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation in DeKalb.
Assessments
Underwood made concrete same-term actions matching the broad promise to support rural health care systems: she introduced the Prioritizing Rural Hospitals Act to prioritize USDA Community Facilities funding for rural health and behavioral health facilities, and she secured Community Project Funding that included rural health care support. Because the promise was framed broadly as support rather than enactment of a specific bill or universal outcome, these legislative and funding actions are sufficient to count as delivered.