Rural children less likely to have health coverage

Rural children are less likely to have health insurance coverage than their urban and suburban counterparts in every region except the South, says a new study from the Carsey Insititute at the University of New Hampshire. In the South, rural children are more likely to be covered than children in central cities, but that's mainly because of Medicaid; Southern rural children do have lower rates of private health insurance coverage.

In Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New York, Oregon, South Dakota and Wisconsin, rural children have lower rates of coverage than urban and suburban children. Rural children in Alabama, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas have insurance coverage comparative to urban children, but significantly lower than suburban children.

Of all the children in the U.S. with health insurance, an estimated 28 percent rely on a public plan, Carsey reports. Across the U.S. a significantly smaller number or rural and urban children are covered by private health insurance than suburban children. You can see the Carsey study here, which includes a state-by-state breakdown of the data.