U.S. City-Country Mortality Gap Widens Amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access

City-Country Mortality Gap Widens Amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access - KFF Health News People in their prime working years living in rural America are 43% more likely to die of natural causes, like diseases, than their urban counterparts, a disparity that grew rapidly in recent decades, according to a new federal report. khnkytjaw KFF Health News

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The health disparities between rural and urban Americans have long been documented, but a recent report from the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service found the chasm has grown in recent decades. In their examination, USDA researchers found rural Americans from the ages of 25 to 54 die from natural causes, like chronic diseases and cancer, at wildly higher rates than the same age group living in urban areas. The analysis did not include external causes of death, such as suicide or accidental overdose.

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