title: The health care experiences of rural Medicaid beneficiaries.
abstract: Medicaid plays a vital role in rural America, yet, because of data limitations, little research exists on the health care experiences of low-income rural adults. We use data from the National Survey of America's Families, with its oversample of low-income populations, to examine differences in access to and use of care between urban and rural Medicaid beneficiaries, and between Medicaid beneficiaries and low-income privately insured adults in urban and rural areas. We find evidence that access to care under Medicaid is worse than under private insurance in both urban and rural areas; however, Medicaid beneficiaries have a more consistent level of access across urban and rural areas than do low-income privately insured people.
authors.affiliation: Urban Institute, Washington, DC 20037, USA. Slong@ui.urban.org
authors.forename: Sharon K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Long
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Teresa A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Coughlin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004522:Educational Status; D005006:Ethnicity; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data