With the Affordable Care Act and expanded access to health care services under threat, the CDC has released a report suggesting any erosion of care will be a bigger problem for nonmetropolitan America than for metro areas. 

The CDC report compares age-adjusted death rates in metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas for the five leading causes of death – heart disease, cancer, accidents (including drug poisonings), chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke. Result: death rates in nonmetropolitan areas are higher for all five causes of death.

What accounts for the higher death rates? A cluster of characteristics, reports the CDC. The residents of nonmetropolitan areas “tend to have less access to health care services and to be less likely to receive preventive services,” explains the report. “In addition, they are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured, delay seeking care, live in poverty, and have lower educational attainment."