Legislation to provide affordable health insurance to all Americans could have a profound effect on rural Americans and the communities where they live.

To help sort through those possible effects, professor Sidney D. Watson of the Saint Louis University School of Law will discuss health care access issues in rural areas and the impact barriers to access have on individuals, families, and the communities.

Watson is the third and final speaker in the Donley Lecture Series, Beyond Politics: A Discussion of Health Care in America sponsored by the College of Law’s West Virginia Law Review. Her presentation, entitled Mending the Fabric of Small Town America: Health Reform as Social and Economic Development, will be held Thursday, March 18, at noon in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom at the WVU Law Center.

Watson is a specialist in health law and health care access for the poor. She has spent her legal career advocating on behalf of low-income people, both as a legal services lawyer and as a law professor.

Brandon Stump, Editor-in-chief of the West Virginia Law Review states, “This lecture is designed for the people of West Virginia,” said Brandon Stump, editor-in-chief of the West Virginia Law Review. “Professor Watson’s lecture will discuss how the current health care legislation being considered by the U.S. Congress will impact those living in rural America.

“For any West Virginian, and for anyone from a rural community, this lecture will begin to answer many of the questions that you have regarding the current health care legislation,” Stump said.

Watson contends that rural families and their communities tend to be poorer and less healthy than those living in big city America. Rural employers are less likely to offer health insurance, and rural residents are more likely to be uninsured or depend on Medicaid or Medicare. The rural health care infrastructure is typically old, frayed and underfunded, and physicians and dentists are hard to find. Prof. Watson will also address the opportunities and challenges the proposed health reform legislation presents for rural communities.

Joining Watson in her talk is a panel of local experts in rural health care who will provide a regional perspective on the issue.

• Joel Halverson, Ph.D., is an expert in health disparities and is a research associate professor at the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy.
• Chris Plein, Ph.D., is chair of the Division of Public Administration at West Virginia University and will comment on health care and public policy.

The event is open to the public and will be webcast at http://law.wvu.edu/healthcare2010.

-WVU-

CONTACT: Brian Caudill, College of Law
304-293-7439; Brian.Caudill@mail.wvu.edu

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