Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
A report released Monday by the U.S. Health and Human Services Department outlines the health care challenges facing rural communities with hopes of addressing such disparities in upcoming health care reform legislation.
“Americans in rural communities have seen their premiums skyrocket and are finding it difficult, if not impossible to get the care they need,” said Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a prepared statement. “Today’s report confirms that we cannot wait to enact comprehensive health reform.”
The report, dubbed “Hard Times in the Heartland: Health Care in Rural America,” indicates that nearly 50 million rural people face challenges both affording and accessing health care. Not only do such Americans face higher rates of poverty, they report more health problems, are more likely to be uninsured, and have less access to primary health care providers than do individuals residing in urban areas.
The percentage of diabetes patients who received all three recommended exams for diabetes is lower for patients in rural areas than in metropolitan areas (32 percent versus 42 percent). Perhaps as a result, rates of admissions for uncontrolled diabetes are higher among residents of rural areas.
Rural women are less likely than urban women to be in compliance with mammogram screening guidelines (71 percent versus 78 percent), and are less likely to have had a pap smear done within the past three years (86 percent versus 91 percent).
Rural residents are more likely to report fair to poor health status than urban residents, and are more likely to have experienced a limitation of activity caused by chronic conditions than urban residents.
Obesity is more common among rural residents (27 percent) than urban residents (24 percent), as are diabetes,19 heart disease, and high blood pressure.
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