The Rural Blog

A digest of events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism from and about rural America, by the Institute for Rural Journalism, based at the University of Kentucky. Links may expire, require subscription or go behind pay walls. Please send news and knowledge you think would be useful to benjy.hamm@uky.edu.

The Rural Blog

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Rural areas lead decline in Obamacare policies' enrollment

As health care insurance costs continue to climb, farm bureau health plans offer a lower cost alternative

After being dropped by their Medicare Advantage Plan, millions of seniors were left scrambling for health insurance

Rural hospitals will be hurt the most from Minnesota Medicaid cuts

The price of hospital services is driving health care costs and insurance premiums to climb nationwide

If Congress doesn't extend enhanced health care tax credits, 4 million rural Americans could face steep premium hikes

Half of rural hospitals lose money; consultancy estimates 418 could close, citing Medicare Advantage as big issue

When to get which vaccine and how to get insurance to pay for it has some Americans ditching vaccines

Labor costs, drugs and inflation push health care costs up; painful pricetag will be felt by employers and workers

Over-the-counter Narcan on shelves next week; overdose reversal spray may cost too much for many who need it

Pregnancy riskier for rural women without health insurance

Some anti-abortion states consider extending Medicaid to likely increasing number of pregnant women

Hospital industry analysis: Problems that triggered 136 rural hospital closures in 2010-21 appear to be getting worse

Rural communities lost 10% of their retail pharmacies in the last 20 years, and most were independents', not chains'

'Byzantine' hospital billing practices often leave patients with huge bills; Maine paper's work provides example for U.S.

Two convicted for rural-hospital lab-billing scam in 3 states

Threat of medical debt is a top worry for most farming families, says study about household-level farming stressors

New laws could save Americans from more than 12 million surprise medical bills this year

Rural residents benefit most from enhanced ACA subsidies, and have highest risk of losing coverage without them

Quick hits: U.S. gets 2nd dark-sky reserve; USDA names more state chiefs; Google can show your town since 1985