Two-thirds of rural Americans without health insurance live in states that decided against an expansion of Medicaid, the Daily Yonder said, based on material from the Kaiser Family Foundation. For urban residents, half of the uninsured in states that did not expand Medicaid, a lower rate. The uninsured rate is 18 percent for both rural and urban areas, with 47 million people lacking health insurance, says the Yonder.
States have the choice whether to expand Medicaid to cover people earning up to 138% of the poverty level through the health care reform law. States not expanding Medicaid include Maine, 60 percent rural, Mississippi, 50 percent rural; South Dakota, 43 percent rural and Alabama, 41 percent rural.