Nearly half of North Carolina children living in rural areas or small towns use Medicaid as their health insurance.
As Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives contemplate major cuts to Medicaid, a new report from the public policy group Center for Children and Families is highlighting the importance of the government health insurance program outside urban areas.
In most states, children and adults younger than 65 living in rural areas and small towns are more likely to have Medicaid coverage than their metro-area counterparts.
The report shows that Medicaid covered nearly 238,000 North Carolina children from rural areas in 2023, more children than in every other state except Texas.