Rural disabled often struggle to make long-distance trips to receive medical care

Hospital shortages in rural areas mean patients often have to drive long distances to receive medical care. The long trip is even harder for the disabled, especially those living in impoverished areas where high gas prices make it too expensive to travel hundreds of miles for care. More than 56 percent of rural counties have disability rates above the national average of 15.3 percent, and in the rural South the rate is 18.7 percent. Of the nation's 169 counties with the highest disability rates, 159 are rural, according to data from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey from 2008 to 2012. 

In Northeast Louisiana six of the 10 rural parishes have disability rates above the national average, Cole Avery reports for The News-Star in Monroe. That necessitates some people, like Polly Smith, to drive 250 miles to New Orleans to get treatment for her daughter who needs almost constant supervision after suffering severe injuries from being hit by a car.

"The difficulty in reaching health-care providers is one of the biggest hurdles disabled people living in rural places face, according to Aliscia Banks, executive director of Families Helping Families of Northeast Louisiana," Avery writes. The organization provides resources to about 5,000 disabled people in the region, including giving out about $14,000 in gas cards last year. (Read more) (University of Montana Rural Institute map)