A study released this month found that the rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths in rural areas have far surpassed those being observed in metropolitan communities, with rural mortality rates more than double that of urban ones.
The study from the Rural Policy Research Institute's (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy found that as the summer ended, the coronavirus infection and mortality rates of rural and urban communities began to diverge.
RUPRI noted in its study that the initial surges of COVID-19 cases at the start of the pandemic were largely concentrated in urban areas. Subsequent surges saw increases in both urban and rural parts of the U.S.
RUPRI? What's that?
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About the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis conducts original research in the topical areas of access to health care services, Medicare policies, development of rural delivery systems (including effects of national policy), and public health. The mission of the Center is to provide timely analysis to federal and state health policy makers, based on the best available research.
The research of the RUPRI Center has included studies of Medicare managed care (currently Medicare Advantage plan enrollment), the Medicare prescription drug program, characteristics of the uninsured population in rural areas, classification of rural areas as unlikely to generate financial support for health care providers, and patterns of admission to hospitals for conditions treatable in an outpatient environment. Specific objectives for the Center’s work include: conducting original research and independent policy analysis that provides policy makers and others with a more complete understanding of the implications of health policy initiatives, and disseminating policy analysis that assures policy makers will consider the needs of rural health care delivery systems in the design and implementation of health policy.