Residents of rural America are disproportionately unable to afford adequate health insurance coverage, often meaning they have poor insurance or simply go without, Howard Berkes reports for National Public Radio. More rural Americans are self-employed or work for small businesses and farms than urban Americans, meaning they often must purchase coverage in the costly individual market.

"Health insurance is killing rural America," said farmer Linus Solberg of Cylinder, Iowa in an interview with Berkes. "Because people just can't keep up and pay their bills. And that shouldn't be in America," he said. Larry Harbour, the owner of a small auto detailing shop in Broken Bow, Nebraska is the type of entrepreneur the Center for Rural Affairs loves to help. He has ideas, energy, experience and drive and after receiving a loan from the Center for Rural Affairs' Rural Entrepreneur Assistance Project he was able to open a successful auto detailing shop. Larry Harbour is exactly the type of entrepreneur that we need more of in rural America if we hope to revitalize our communities.  

Larry is adaptable, he stretches to make his business grow by working long hours and detailing everything from sports cars to combines, but one thing holds Larry back from thriving as a small business owner: access to affordable health insurance. Larry found that basic insurance for himself and his wife runs $24,000 to $40,000 a year, plus a $2,000 deductible. The high price tag puts coverage out of reach for Larry and his wife. “It's like playing Russian roulette" He said. “Every day, we wonder when it's going to happen — if something's going to happen, are we able to afford it?"

Larry's concerns were echoed by farmers Dan and Lorna Wilson who raise organic hogs, corn, soybeans and grain on 640 acres in Paullina, Iowa. The Wilsons have health insurance, but with a high deductible. For the Wilson's, who are depending on their farm to fund their retirement, health insurance is more about their farm than their health."We probably have a net worth that we could weather one major incident," Dan Wilson said. "But it would severely deplete the farming assets. So, we're insuring the farm."

Linus Solberg, who worked with the Center on livestock competition issues and is now engaged in our health care work sums it up: "We can put people on the moon," he said. "We can go up and fix this Hubble satellite that we have up there. And we can't have health care for all these people. It's ridiculous."

Help reform the health care system for Linus, Larry, Dan and Lorna and all rural Americans by writing a letter to your senator.  Read more and listen to the radio story here.