; Whereas the 20 percent of the population of the United States that lives in rural areas is scattered over 97 percent of the landmass of the United States; Whereas the geography and weather of rural areas of the United States can make accessing health care difficult, and cultural, social, and language barriers compound rural health challenges; Whereas individuals in rural areas of the United States are more likely to be uninsured and more likely to receive coverage through public sources than individuals in urban areas of the United States; Whereas the proportion of uninsured and underinsured individuals is rising faster in rural areas of the United States than in urban areas of the United States; Whereas the growing opioid epidemic has placed an even greater burden on the limited care resources in rural communities as— (1) it is estimated that as many as 2.5 million people in the United States are suffering from opioid addiction related to prescriptions, and an additional 467,000 are addicted to heroin; (2) eighty percent of people addicted to opioids do not receive treatment, and those who do are severely limited by the types of treatment available especially in rural areas; (3) according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the counties that prescribe the most opioids are likely to be in rural areas, where the unemployment rate stands nearly two percentage points higher than the national average; and (4) according to the CDC, the rate of death from opioid-related overdoses is 45-percent higher in nonmetropolitan counties; Whereas access to health care continues to be a major challenge in rural areas of the United States, as— (1) less than 11 percent of physicians in the United States practice in rural areas; (2) nearly 60 percent of areas designated as primary care Health Professional Shortage Areas (commonly referred to as HPSAs ) are rural and more than 3,000 physicians would be needed to remove these designations