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Outside the Garden of Eden: Rural Values and Healthcare Reform

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

Kate H. Brown
Kate H. Brown
Affiliation:
Assistant Director of the Center for Health Policy and Ethics, Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska
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Extract

It should surprise no one familiar with the problems in rural healthcare that 87% of a randomly selected sample of Nebraskans recently called for either fundamental or complete change of the healthcare system. Rural communities in the United, States have been hard hit by the rising cost of healthcare at a time of economic and demographic decline. Unable to sustain operating costs and personnel needs, rural hospitals and medical, practices have been forced to close their doors at an, alarming rate.

Furthermore, rural patients are decreasingly able to afford what services are available to them. Most must purchase insurance privately because they are unlikely to be insured through employment. Therefore, they pay dearly because they are not eligible for corporate rates and because insurance companies use experience instead of community rating to assess risk.

Type
Special Section: Cross-cultural Perspectives in Healthcare Ethics
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , Summer 1994 , pp. 329 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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References

Notes

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