Rural America

City-country mortality gap widens amid persistent holes in rural health care access

As rural health services continue to erode, population health declines and mortality rates increase. That endangers local economies and employment, rural health experts say.

  • By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, KFF Health News

Community groups step up to help rural agencies’ disaster recovery

Organizations like long-term recovery groups can help rural agencies get housing, financial, health care and food assistance to victims of natural disasters.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

‘Brain gain’ in rural America and who is behind it

Young people leave their homes to explore and learn everywhere, not just in rural America. But rural spaces offer some unique advantages that inspire many to return and bolster their communities.

  • By Ilana Newman, The Daily Yonder

As COVID-19 emergency funding dries up, some rural schools may face a steep fiscal cliff in 2024

Lower-income districts are likely to face bigger budget reductions, along with districts who spent relief aid on teacher salaries and new faculty hires.

  • By Lane Wendell Fischer, The Daily Yonder

Rural employment edges back to pre-pandemic numbers

The number of jobs grew in November 2023, according to a recent report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

  • By Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder

Workforce shortages plague rural hospitals, legislation to address it stalls

Experts worry that without legislation incentivizing entry into various medical professions, rural healthcare systems will increasingly suffer from personnel shortages.

  • By Liz Carey, The Daily Yonder

How governments are tackling medical debt

Medical debt can stymie communities’ economic mobility as unpaid hospital bills chip away at public dollars. That’s why local governments are looking to forgive residents’ medical debt, which experts say can be especially helpful for rural areas.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

Rural counties dependent on recreation industry show best recovery from pandemic employment loss

Rural recreation counties added to their pre-pandemic employment numbers, but other rural economies struggled to recover.

  • By Sarah Melotte, The Daily Yonder

Help for rural governments tackling the opioid crisis

The Reaching Rural Initiative helped officials in Harnett County, North Carolina, develop an opioid emergency response plan and a program to direct formerly incarcerated individuals to treatment.

  • By Kaitlyn Levinson

A robust digital equity plan can boost rural broadband access

A new toolkit from a rural broadband association calls on local leaders to build partnerships, engage in community outreach, and emphasize digital literacy and cybersecurity skills among residents.

  • By Chris Teale

Study: Rural communities still at disadvantage when competing for federal grants

Despite efforts by the Biden Administration to level the playing field for low-capacity communities, applying for government funding remains a tougher challenge for rural communities.

  • By Claire Carlson, The Daily Yonder

For rural communities, broadband expansion is no single thing

Small communities trying to take advantage of massive federal funding now available for broadband expansion deal with multiple hurdles. Resistance from major providers is just one of them.

  • By Ilana Newman, The Daily Yonder
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Study looks at climate change effects on rural electrical grids

Investigators from universities in South Dakota, Puerto Rico, Maine and Alaska are working together for the next four years to study severe weather events and electrical grids.

  • By Kristi Eaton, The Daily Yonder

How will rural Americans fare during Medicaid unwinding? Experts fear they’re on their own

Rural residents face additional barriers to renewing their Medicaid coverage, including longer distances to eligibility offices, less access to the internet or a lack of health insurance counselors in their communities.

  • By Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez, KFF Health News

You might need an ambulance, but your state might not see it as ‘essential’

Ambulance services can receive state money once declared essential services.

  • By Nada Hassanein, Stateline

This new law will help health care workers save lives in ambulances that cover wide-open West Texas

The emerging technology, paid for by a grant established during the 2023 legislative session, will help emergency health care workers talk with doctors in emergency rooms to better care for critical patients.

  • By Jayme Lozano Carver, The Texas Tribune

Life in a rural ‘ambulance desert’ means sometimes help isn’t on the way

Rural health care services like ambulances and hospitals are often spread few and far between, research shows. A shortage of services puts residents' health at risk and even affects local economies, experts say.

  • By Taylor Sisk, KFF Health News

Lack of access to cloud computing may hinder rural innovation, study shows

Rural businesses innovate at rates similar to urban businesses when they have access to the cloud. But they need fast, stable internet connection to maintain that competitiveness.

  • By Ahna Renee Fleming, The Daily Yonder

Rural Texas may lose out on billions in broadband infrastructure funding due to federal regulations

Grant applicants are required to have a line of credit from a major bank and put up 25% of the project cost ahead of time. That will likely disqualify many small internet service providers in rural areas.

  • By Jayme Lozano Carver, The Texas Tribune

Recovery cafes offer support, healing in rural communities

Facing issues including substance misuse or loneliness, a new way to gather to lean on others for support is catching on in rural American towns. A rural fellowship program focused on health and criminal justice is helping support some of the efforts.

  • By Kristi Eaton, The Daily Yonder

Rural Electric Co-Ops to Get $10.7B in Clean Energy Grants, Loans

The Agriculture Department says the money marks the largest single funding effort for rural electrification in the U.S. since the 1930s.

  • By Jacob Fischler, Washington State Standard