NPR on health insurance woes in rural America

Listen to Howard Berkes' report here. An excerpt outlining the problem follows:

Half of all jobs in rural places are tied to small businesses, a rate 13 percent higher than in cities and suburbs. And people who work for small businesses are twice as likely to be uninsured, according to Jon Bailey of the Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Neb.

"The two biggest determinants of un-insurance in this country are the owner of a small business or employee of a small business," reported Bailey, who co-authored an April 2009 study describing the rates of uninsured and underinsured rural Americans. "And that's more common in rural areas."