In rural U.S., learning to live with pain and sickness is a way of life for some
Chattanooga Times Free Press
Kate Harrison
June 23, 2013
(a few excerpts)
For many people in Grundy County, Tenn., the health care strategy is to bite the bullet. Learn to live with pain and sickness. There just isn't a more realistic option, they say.
Grundy is the unhealthiest among Tennessee's 95 counties, according to a national survey released this year.
The chief obstacle is income. Rural Americans typically have lower incomes than those in urban settings, with a declining population and the loss of key rural industries. After the coal mines shut down in Grundy in the '80s, local industry never really recovered. Median household income in the county is $25,600. The unemployment rate is 9.6 percent.
They show a lot of the same negative health trends seen in inner-city areas. But rural residents don't have the same proximity and level of access to social services.
(more at the link)
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2013/jun/23/6-32-a1-in-rural-us-learning-to-live-with-pain/?local
This is a very good article on the statistics in a rural county that is very close to my heart. People shouldn't have to live this way anywhere in the world.
= new reply since forum marked as read
to explain to all of us that their poverty is their own fault because they voted for the "wrong" person so they deserve what they get. 
although the 2500-1600 vote for Mittwit wasn't nearly as bad as in some other rural counties, which went up to 4 or even 5 to 1. 
http://www.tn.gov/sos/election/results/2012-11/USPresidentCountyTotals.pdf
But aren't their ministers supposed to be looking out for them? Why tell them to vote (R) when all it gets them is the kind of suffering described in the article?
not for their earthly welfare.
(Also sarcasm)
I looked for a provider in your county, but found none. The above link shows the locations of Federally Qualified Rural Health Care provider clinics in all states. These providers are all across the US, and:
HRSA health centers care for you, even if you have no health insurance. You pay what you can afford, based on your income. Health centers provide
checkups when you're well
treatment when you're sick
complete care when you're pregnant
immunizations and checkups for your children
dental care and prescription drugs for your family
mental health and substance abuse care if you need it
Plug Ohio in the search box at the link and hopefully you'll find a provider close to you. Additionally, you may qualify for FREE treatment, depending on your income, and even if you have income, these providers work on a sliding scale and will set up payment plans, regardless of credit history, etc.
I hurt for you, sunwyn, and I am so sorry, so deeply sorry that you are suffering like this. I hope this info helps.
Small rural towns used to be alive with farm families and entrepreneurs and sometimes factories that employed quite a few from surrounding communities at good wages. Then corporations and Wall Street got control of many of those factories and moved them to more urban areas where the excess labor supply tended to suppress wages and thus increase profitability. Family farming became more difficult as corporate farming grew; many family farmers had to sell out, similar to small businesses unable to survive in an increasingly corporate environment. Rural areas began to decay as their economies moved to the cities. Of course corporations then realized they could boost their profitability even more by moving their jobs from the U.S. cities to cheap labor markets overseas. And thus the cities began to decay.
Unfortunately, too many residents of rural areas continue to vote again and again for the politicians largely responsible for the corporate-friendly policies that have led to the decay of rural areas.
