Agriculture writer says farmers would benefit most from reform of the health-care system

If you need a face for health-care reform, look no further than the weathered ones of ranchers and farmers, writes widely circulated agriculture columnist Alan Guebert. "Just nine percent of the nation’s doctors serve 17 percent of its citizens scattered across 80 percent of its geography," he writes.

In addition to severe doctor shortages, rural areas also suffer from a lack of health insurance access and competition. Health insurance can also be problematic in uban areas, but Guebert says rural residents are in more danger because they are employed by smaller businesses (including themselves) and make lower wages. Also, he says the demographic of rural Americans — older, poorer and less educated — indicates greater use of the health-care system.

Jon Bailey, director of rural research and analysis at the Nebraska-based Center for Rural Affairs, told Guebert, “Health insurance coverage and cost is an ‘anything goes, Wild West show’ across rural America," because of little regulation and little competition. (Read more)