What is one thing the pandemic has affected in rural America?


"What we know is that some of these communities already face challenges with healthcare," said Jim Carroll Director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Both access to good treatment but also such things as getting there, the transportation concerns and the like."


"It started at first with video calls but then you know obviously there’s communication problems sometimes in parts of rural America," Carroll continued. "So we moved it down to just telephone calls."


He pointed to some of the outstanding issues his office is focusing on right now.


"We’re still looking at the ability to provide more healthcare workers in these areas to issue more prescriptions for people who have a substance use disorder as well as treat people for a variety of conditions in these areas,"


"[Meanwhile] we’re trying to eliminate regulations," Carroll added. "We'd allow doctors to prescribe across state lines during this pandemic."


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