Why Rural America Needs Health Care Reform
Rural Health
The goal of this website is to inform the rural population of the problems they face with national health and how the affordable health will help their specific population.
The rural population has many problems they face they...
have a single primary care physician."(all health.org)
The rural population has many problems they face they...
- * lack of health care providers
* more chronic disease
* slow adoption of health information technology, and
* geographic barriers.
Some statistics/statements that are a problem for this population.
- Only 10% of physicians practice in rural America despite the fact that nearly one forth of the population lives in these areas.
- The rural population is generally poor and they don't have as much access to healthcare as people who live in urban areas.
- Most of their population is below the poverty line which makes it hard to obtain medical care.
- The uninsurance rate in remote rural communities averages 23 percent
- In rural areas, a high proportion of people work at small firms or are selfemployed. Those workers are less likely to have health coverage than those at larger firms.
- More than 15 percent of rural residents are over the age of 65, compared to 12.4 percent nationwide.
- Rural residents have rates of chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity that are greater than urban or suburban populations.
- Seventy-seven percent of rural counties are considered primary care health professional shortage areas.
- Nearly a third more rural people are covered by public programs than are their urban counterparts.
have a single primary care physician."(all health.org)