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A new scholarship program at ECU has taken aim at the urban/rural health care knowledge gap, training up to 21 nurse practitioner students a year. #ruralhealth #healthcare northcarolinahealthnews.org/2…

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Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center

map of the U.S. shows which counties have more offerings for health insurance

Complex factors create lack of health insurance competition in rural areas

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Complex factors create lack of health insurance competition in rural areas - North Carolina Health News

If policymakers use market-based approaches to solve health insurance access problems, they need a better understanding of how rural markets work, says one researcher.

By Liz Carey Daily Yonder A lack of competition among health insurers in rural areas has reduced the ability of market-based approaches to increase insurance enrollment, a new study says. The Affordable Care Act of 2010 sought to improve the health-insurance access in part through fostering more competition among insurers. But rural markets have less […]

map shows most of North Carolina counties colored ingreen to indicate they are shortage areas. experts say this impedes economic development

“No Silver Bullet” for Solving Rural Health Care Problems

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“No Silver Bullet” for Solving Rural Health Care Problems - North Carolina Health News

State lawmakers hear from experts that improving access to rural health will require multifaceted approaches, heavy on economic development.

By Taylor Knopf As people migrate toward urban centers, the rural infrastructure is crumbling. The population is aging. Jobs are dwindling. And rural hospitals are struggling to stay afloat or closing. In North Carolina, 20 counties do not have a pediatrician; 26 counties do not have an OB-GYN; and 32 are without a psychiatrist, according […]

Signs supporting Pungo Hospital dot the roadsides near Belhaven, a small coastal town. Belhaven's single stop light is visible in the distance in this 2014 photo.

Rural Hospitals in Financial Distress

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Rural Hospitals in Financial Distress - North Carolina Health News

About 40 percent of rural hospitals in the United States are operating in the red and at-risk of financial distress or worse, closure.

By Taylor Knopf Rural hospitals are struggling to keep their lights on and the doors open. Since 2010, there have been 82 rural hospital closures across the U.S. Four were in North Carolina. The majority of the closures are in the Southeastern U.S., according to researchers based at UNC Chapel Hill. About two-thirds of closures […]

photo of crowd holding signs with the US Capitol in the background

Congressional Medicaid Plan Cuts Hit Rural America Hardest, Report Finds

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Congressional Medicaid Plan Cuts Hit Rural America Hardest, Report Finds - North Carolina Health News

A new analysis of the American Health Care Act finds a disproportionate number of residents in rural counties could lose coverage.

By Phil Galewitz Kaiser Health News Rural America carried President Donald Trump to his election night upset last November. Trump Country it may be, but rural counties and small towns also make up Medicaid Country — those parts of the nation whose low-income children and families are most dependent on the federal-state health insurance program, […]

Rural Health Providers Head to DC To Flex Newfound Political Clout

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Rural Health Providers Head to DC To Flex Newfound Political Clout - North Carolina Health News

Last week's Rural Health Policy Institute in Washington was the largest in 28 years, and the people there wanted lawmakers to listen.

By Rose Hoban In the past six years, dozens of rural hospitals around the United States have discharged their final patients and turned out the lights, including three in North Carolina. The nation’s crisis of opiate addiction and overdose has been playing out most strongly in rural towns, where family and community ties are strong […]

North Carolina had 20 critical access hospitals as of Nov. 2014. Since that time, Yadkin Valley TKTK Hospital has closed. Blue areas on the map indicate non-metropolitan counties.

Lack Of Medicaid Expansion Hurts Rural Hospitals More Than Urban Facilities

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Lack Of Medicaid Expansion Hurts Rural Hospitals More Than Urban Facilities - North Carolina Health News

By Shefali Luthra Kaiser Health News It isn’t news that in rural parts of the country, people have a harder time accessing good health care. But new evidence suggests opposition to a key part of the 2010 health overhaul could be adding to the gap. The finding comes from a study published Wednesday in the […]

Yadkin Valley Community Hospital in a Google streetview photo dated May, 2013. The facility now has a primary care practice operating on site, but the hospital facilities are not functioning.

Kaiser Study: Rural Hospitals Close for Many Reasons

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Kaiser Study: Rural Hospitals Close for Many Reasons - North Carolina Health News

There's no one reason why a rural hospital closes. But the results are often similar - reduced access to certain forms of care.

By Thomas Goldsmith Across the United States, 76 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, three of them in North Carolina. A new report by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured attributes rural hospital closings to a broad range of factors. They include, but aren’t limited to, corporate decisions on profitability, lack of community […]

Signs supporting Pungo Hospital dot the roadsides near Belhaven, a small coastal town. Belhaven's single stop light is visible in the distance in this 2014 photo.

Report Finds Almost 700 Hospitals at Risk of Shutting Down

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Report Finds Almost 700 Hospitals at Risk of Shutting Down - North Carolina Health News

Sixty-eight rural hospitals have closed since January 2010. Hundreds more may be on the brink, including more than a third of critical access hospitals. By Taylor Sisk As has been widely reported in recent months, rural hospitals throughout the country face some daunting challenges. Now a new report helps put the extent of this issue […]

A hospital emergency department may be a good place for a heart attack patient, but advocates say it's the wrong setting for someone in psychiatric crisis.

Study Finds Rural Hospitals Hurting in Medicaid Non-Expansion States

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Study Finds Rural Hospitals Hurting in Medicaid Non-Expansion States - North Carolina Health News

A team of UNC-Chapel Hill researchers compared rural hospitals in states that have expanded Medicaid with those in states that haven’t, and found that those in states that haven’t will carry a heavier financial burden.

By Taylor Sisk North Carolina’s rural hospitals could soon be paying a steep price for the state legislature’s standing position not to expand Medicaid, according to the findings of a recently released UNC-Chapel Hill study. The researchers examined rural hospitals across the country in 2013, before any states had expanded Medicaid, which is allowed for […]

The main entrance of Carolinas Healthcare System's Anson Hospital. Photo credit: Taylor Sisk

Today’s Rural Hospital Faces Myriad Concerns

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Today’s Rural Hospital Faces Myriad Concerns - North Carolina Health News

Small, rural hospitals throughout the country are struggling to stay in business. By Taylor Sisk The citizens of Yadkin County aren’t alone in their uncertainty about the future of health care in their community, though with the closure of Yadkin Valley Community Hospital they have more urgent decisions to be made than most. But Yadkin […]

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