Advocacy

Medicaid and Medicare are an important sources of health care coverage for the over 60 million Americans living in rural areas. Nearly a quarter of individuals under age 65 who live in rural areas are covered by Medicaid, as well as 22 percent of people dually enrolled in Medicaid and Medicare. Overall, rural residents have worse health outcomes and tend to be older, poorer, and sicker than those in urban areas.  These communities heavily rely on Medicaid and Medicare programs to support insurance coverage individually, and as a whole for their health care system and healthcare workforce. On average, over 70 percent of rural hospital revenue comes from public payers. We encourage you to utilize the following advocacy materials and external resources when you are advocating for rural healthcare coverage.