Rural Healthcare
Rural populations have often been viewed as especially vulnerable with respect to access to health care. Rural populations have a less developed health care system. Residents of rural communities also report having a higher rate of chronic illness and disability. Rural communities face economic hardships, this makes it hard to access health care when it is needed. All this combined with the fact that rural communities face physical barriers such as distance and availability of transportation, makes accessing health care very difficult. Limited health care systems make it harder for rural residents to obtain access. Measures of access need to be expanded to address issues of particular concern in rural areas and gain a better understanding of access problems that may be specific to rural areas. Access in rural areas is complicated, partly because of different employment patterns and insurance coverage among rural residents. "Rural residents are on average poorer, older and for those under the age 65, less insured than persons living in urban areas."(Braden and Beauregaurd 1994). Rural Americans are also more likely to be self-employed; this makes employment related insurance benefits less wid
Residents in rural areas have less health insurance than those residents in urban areas. 9% of residents in metro areas reported being unable to get eyeglasses compared to 4% or more in rural areas#. People in these areas have more private coverage, more employment-related insurance and less public coverage compared to people in rural counties. "State-focused studies have found that urban families have more insurance coverage than their rural counter parts and that rural families pay a higher proportion of their income for insurance premiums (Hartley, Quam 1994). This did not vary by type of geographic area. This does not suggest that rural residents fail to obtain needed care, they are more likely than urban residents to delay in getting care because of financial barriers. It is clear that insurance coverage of rural areas in general, have lower private insurance coverage and higher public insurance coverage than dwellers in more populated areas. Since residents in rural communities are more likely to suffer from chronic illness, the lower number of rural resident specialist visits raises some concern. The 1994 National Health Interview Survey Access to Care, asked the question, was there a time in the past 12 months when an individual needed care but was unable to obtain it. There is an overall reduced access to health care for rural populations. Transportation and travel times also play a big role in access of health care in rural areas " Evidence indicates that rural residents have greater transportation difficulties and often travel longer distances to receive health care" (Cunningham and Correluis 1995). " The volume of cardiology services was 40% lower for rural Medicare enrollees than for urban beneficiaries" ( Dor and Holahan, 1990). An analysis of Medicare services found not only that the volume of physician services per person was 15% lower in rural areas than it was in urban areas, but that this difference was largest for technology-intensive specialists.
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Acceptance Essays
