Health Care Should Help us In Rural America

The most recent U.S. census, which measured population changes from 2000 to 2010, showed that rural diversity has been increasing. Non-Hispanic whites were about 80% of rural dwellers in 2010 but accounted for only 25% of rural population growth. Over that same decade, rural Hispanics increased about 45% to 3.8 million people, almost equal to rural African Americans. Native Americans increased by 8%. The number of Asians rose by about 37%, although remaining a small part of the total rural population.

In his Central Appalachian area, Florence said, the Hispanic community has grown considerably in the past 15 years, with a smaller Haitian population arriving more recently. Some are migrant workers, for whom health care is “pretty sporadic,” he said. “When I see a migrant tomato farmer, he might have been without his blood pressure medicine for six months. Yet he continues to work every day.”