Rural health status: A ten year update of the health US rural report

This presentation will highlight key findings from the recent update of the "Health United States, 2001, With Urban and Rural Health Chartbook," report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The original chartbook was the first comprehensive look at rural health status in the United States, and articulated several areas of health disparity experienced by rural residents who comprise nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population. While the 2001 document remains relevant in many ways, it is critical to explore trends and changes over the past decade, and to create a baseline of rural health status information prior to full implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

With funding through the HRSA Rural Health Research Centers program, the research team replicated the analyses conducted in 2001 using the most recent available data through 2011 and presented findings in a format consistent with the 2001 CDC report to allow for comparisons over time. During this session we will highlight trends in rural health status, both positive and negative, and highlight persistent areas of health disparity.

Information about the health status of rural populations is especially important to document given the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which includes many provisions and programs that could positively impact the health of rural residents. A strong focus of ACA efforts has been on improving health outcomes, making it critically important to establish a baseline understanding of rural health status prior to implementation. In addition to articulating areas of rural health disparity, the updated data will provide a strong baseline of rural/urban differences in health status prior to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.