Health Care in Rural America
Health care in rural communities has many aspects – access to physicians, dentists, nurses, and mental health services; the financial circumstances of rural hospitals; federal rules concerning Medicare reimbursement rates and the impact on rural hospitals and healthcare professionals; and the consequences of all of these on the health of rural people.
While each aspect is important, this brief will focus on health insurance coverage, health care costs of rural people, and solutions to reform the health care system.
Health Insurance Coverage
Who Are the Rural Uninsured?
The uninsured in remote rural counties are not a peculiar sub-population of their communities:
- Rural people – especially those in “remote rural counties” – are more likely to be uninsured and uninsured for longer periods.
- Remote rural residents are less likely to be offered health benefits through their employment.
- The rural economy – dependent on low-wage work and small businesses – leads to a higher rate of uninsured because of market and public policy failures peculiar to that type of economy, namely the cost of health benefits and a lack of affordable benefit options.
- Rural people have high rates of “underinsurance,” or health benefit coverage that provides less coverage at higher cost.
- Rural people may not be receiving adequate health care, leading to poorer health and worse health outcomes; the higher rural rates of uninsurance and underinsurance are causes.
Who Are the Rural Uninsured?
The uninsured in remote rural counties are not a peculiar sub-population of their communities:
- 68 percent come from families with at least one full-time worker.
- 30 percent are children.
- Almost two-thirds come from low-income families (less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level – less than $37,700 for a family of 4).
- Families with two full-time workers, married couples, and the employed are also at greater risk of being uninsured if they live in a remote rural county. There is no difference in uninsured rates among the rural unemployed and the urban unemployed.
Read the complete issue brief in the attached pdf file.
| Attachment | Size |
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| Health-Care-in-Rural-America.pdf | 176.84 KB |
