Assemblyman Robert Smullen (R,C-Mohawk Valley and the Adirondacks) held a press conference at Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville on December 16, 2025, to introduce Assembly Bill A.9137. The bill aims to expand health care access and improve affordability for rural communities across New York State.
The proposal was developed after an August 2025 report from the Office of the New York State Comptroller highlighted significant shortages of health care professionals in 16 rural counties. The report found that several counties lacked pediatricians or obstetrician-gynecologists entirely, and there were also shortfalls in primary care doctors, dentists, and mental health practitioners. The full report is available at https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/rural-health-shortages.pdf.
“These statistics showcase a staggering lack of health care access for New Yorkers living in rural areas of our state,” said Smullen. “It is clear there is an immediate need for us to address this urgent and growing problem.
“My proposal will help expand health care access and improve affordability throughout rural communities statewide by maintaining rather than increasing telehealth reimbursement rates, as well as providing loan relief and tax credits to health care providers to incentivize them to work in currently underserved rural areas. It is our duty to always act in our constituents’ best interest, and safeguarding their health and well-being needs to be a top priority. Taking away the uncertainty surrounding telehealth reimbursement rates and having New Yorkers’ backs when it comes to expanding access to affordable health care are common-sense measures we can take now.
“This is a quality-of-life issue that, if left unaddressed, could not only drive more families out of state but also leave many to suffer, forced to deal with serious health problems alone. This is dangerous and unacceptable, and New York families deserve so much better. I urge my colleagues across the aisle in the New York State Assembly and Senate to sign onto this important piece of legislation. Addressing these affordability and access issues statewide is a bipartisan issue and is a matter of rural equity.”
The bill proposes keeping current telehealth reimbursement rates stable instead of raising them while offering loan relief programs and tax incentives for providers who choose to work in underserved rural areas.
