Strong medicine is needed to solve America’s rural health crisis

The health care situation in rural America has gotten worse since my childhood. Rural Americans face serious health disparities because of the shortage of physicians and the resulting lack of access to care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, rural residents are generally sicker and poorer than urban residents, and are more likely to die from heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke than their urban counterparts. Residents of rural areas who have cancer are diagnosed at later stages of the disease, have less access to clinical trials, worse outcomes, and spend 66% more time traveling to see cancer care providers.

The full STAT article can be viewed at this link.