EAU CLAIRE, Wisc. – Today, Rebecca Cooke, candidate for Congress in Wisconsin’s Third Congressional District, issued this statement in response to the visit of Secretary Kennedy with Rep. Derrick Van Orden:

“This is a slap in the face to rural America delivered today by coastal elite Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The Rural Health Transformation Fund is a bandaid to skyrocketing healthcare costs and hospital closures that Derrick Van Orden votes for time and again. What we actually need is:
-To keep rural hospitals open by increasing Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates. 
-Create a public health insurance option to force big insurance companies to compete. 
-Develop a healthcare talent pipeline that incentivizes rural providers and support staff to come back home after their education. 

Derrick Van Orden has a one sentence healthcare policy on his website – it’s clear he has no vision for increasing healthcare access or making it more affordable. This district deserves leadership that understands we should be representing Wisconsin’s values in Washington, not bringing the worst of the Washington establishment home.”