A survey of health care providers and community leaders in Nebraska and six other states focused on the state of health care in rural America — and strategies to improve it. Heidi Schultz, with the Bipartisan Policy Center, says there are renewed efforts to revive rural America, but its residents continue to face greater disparities and barriers to quality health care than their urban counterparts.
Schultz says rural residents also have higher rates of obesity, tobacco and opioid use, and suicide.
Schultz says one recommendation is to “rightsize” health care services to fit each community, recognizing every rural area is different and has different needs.
