People living in Appalachia are more likely to die sooner than in the rest of the United States, a new study found.
The study looked at life expectancy and infant mortality from 1990 to 2013 in Appalachia, a 205,000-square mile region that stretches across 12 states from northern Mississippi to New York. Researchers found that health disparities between the rural, traditionally impoverished region and the rest of the country are widening.
The study, published in the journal Health Affairs on Monday, found that life expectancy is far longer in the rest of the U.S.
In the early 1990s life expectancy was seven months less in Appalachia compared to the rest of the U.S. But by the end of the study period, the difference in life expectancy had grown to 2.4 years. The life expectancy was 79.3 years in the U.S. compared to nearly 77 years in the Appalachian region.
The researchers attributed the higher mortality in Appalachia to heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes, suicide, unintentional injuries and drug abuse, among other factors.
There was an even larger gap for infant mortality.
In 1990, the infant mortality rate was about the same in the U.S. and Appalachia. However, by the end of the study period in 2013, it had ballooned to 16 percent higher in Appalachia.
A Democratic senator from Missouri is pushing a proposal to help rural counties that may not have any Obamacare coverage.
Sen. Claire McCaskill is pushing an idea in the Senate to help people who live in counties that don’t have an Obamacare insurer. Those counties are predominantly rural.
