Health Insurance in Rural America

"Rates of Uninsured Falls in Rural Counties, Remains Higher Than Urban Counties

More people had health insurance from 2013 to 2017 across the nation, including in every state and almost every county.

The interactive graphic below, that uses Small Area Health Insurance Estimates released today, highlights uninsured rates for 2017 at the county level and the change since 2013.

It compares the percentage of people without health insurance in rural and nonrural areas and in states that expanded Medicaid and those that didn’t, as of 2017.  

Counties are Classified

• “Mostly Urban” when less than one-half of their population lives in rural areas.
• “Mostly Rural” when more than half but not all of their population lives in rural areas.
• “Completely Rural” when everyone in the county lives in a rural area.

Highlights from the Interactive Graphic

• In 2017, county uninsured rates for people under age 65 ranged from 2.3 percent in Norfolk County, Mass., to 33.7 percent in Gaines County, Texas. The median county rate was 10.6 percent.
• Massachusetts’ 14 counties had one of the narrowest gaps among its counties. Texas had one of the widest ranges.
• Residents of rural counties still lack insurance at higher rates than those living in urban areas. About 12.3 percent of people in completely rural counties lacked health insurance compared with 11.3 percent for mostly rural counties and 10.1 percent for mostly urban counties.
• In nearly every county, whether completely rural, mostly rural or urban, the percentage of people without health insurance has declined since 2013..."

Health insurance

Homes on the Range: Homeownership Rates Are Higher in Rural America

"For decades, homeownership rates have been an important indicator of the health of housing markets all across the United States. Communities use these data to recognize the changing landscape of their housing markets by analyzing patterns in the percentage of owner-occupied housing units compared  to all occupied units. Homebuilders, financial institutions and realtors all depend on homeownership data to determine what type of housing to build, finance and sell to prospective homebuyers. While last decade’s housing crash and Great Recession altered the economy and conditions of housing markets throughout the nation, studies have shown that most Americans continue to believe homeownership is both desirable and attainable..."
Rural homeownership

Investing in Rural America
From USGA blog:
"Earlier this week, President Obama along with Secretary Vilsack and members of the White House Rural Council hosted the White House Rural Economic Forum in Peosta, Iowa where the President announced new jobs initiatives focused on increasing access to capital, job training and health care services. The forum, part of President Obama’s three-day economic bus tour, brought together farmers, small business owners, private sector leaders, rural stakeholders and government officials to discuss ways to improve economic growth and create jobs in rural communities nationwide. The White House Rural Council, of which Secretary Vilsack is the chair, was created on June 9, 2011 by an executive order and is focused on finding ways to increase economic growth and infrastructure in rural communities..."

JOBS AND ECONOMIC SECURITY FOR RURAL AMERICA
"The vitality of rural America is critical to ensuring the strength of our economy, the affordability of our food, the independence of our energy supply, and the vibrancy of small communities. President Obama values rural America’s important contributions to our Nation’s well-being, and has worked tirelessly to strengthen the economic security of rural communities across the country. By enacting policies that have helped stave off a second Great Depression and get our economy growing again, the President has laid the foundation for economic growth that will create high paying jobs for all Americans.

These policies have made significant impact in rural areas, but the pace of job growth is still not fast enough. In response, the President has redoubled his efforts to strengthen the economy and ensure that all Americans living in rural communities have equal access to a first-class education, affordable healthcare, and real economic opportunities

This report lays out the economic landscape rural America faces today and presents some of the
Administration’s many efforts to promote economic growth and job creation in rural communities.."

Rural America at a Glance:2009 Edition
"Update of an annual series, the 2009 edition of Rural America At A Glance deals with effects of the major recession on rural America. Initially, effects of the recession were mitigated in nonmetro areas by high commodity prices throughout much of 2008, but as the recession deepened, prices fell. Both nonmetro and metro areas experienced rising unemployment as manufacturing and other major employment sectors contracted, and they were similarly affected by the mortgage foreclosure crisis. However, even before the current recession, nonmetro poverty rates had risen in the growth years after the 2001 recession, against the usual trend during a time of economic expansion; the nonmetro poverty rate has exceeded the national poverty rate since 2001. The nonmetro population continued to grow in 2007 and 2008, but at less than half the rate of the metro population. Nonmetro growth is largely due to a rise in births, offsetting a decline in net migration from metro to nonmetro areas."