The urban-rural health care divide is growing

• Mortality rates are higher in rural areas, and many of those disparities are getting bigger.
• Women in rural areas are more likely to die from pregnancy-related deaths than urban women. Two-thirds of these deaths are preventable.

Between the lines: Operating a health care practice, especially a hospital, in a rural area is a tough proposition: There aren't many patients, and a large proportion of them are covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

• More than 100 rural hospitals have closed since 2010, and those still up and running have slashed some services for patients in order to survive, according to one study.
• It can also be hard to recruit doctors to work in rural areas.

Go deeper:

• When a rural hospital closes
• Special report: The coming health care collision
• Democrats' divide on Medicare for All
• The return of the ACA wars