Rural Health
Research Gateway

Abigail Barker, PhD

RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis

Phone: 314.935.3513
Email: arbarker@wustl.edu

Washington University in St. Louis

Current Projects - (1)

  • Rural-Urban Differences in Medicare Advantage Plan Quality Scores
    This project updates previous RUPRI Center publications focused on rural-urban differences in access to, and enrollment in, Medicare Advantage plans with four- and five-star quality ratings.
    Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Health services, Healthcare financing, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA)

Completed Projects - (1)

  • Rural Premiums, Issuer Participation, and Enrollment in Health Insurance Marketplaces: An Updated Analysis
    The project described variations in Health Insurance Marketplace plan design and availability, total and net-of-subsidy premium trends, and enrollment over time between rural and urban areas and identified associations between these factors and several key policy differences and changes, controlling for economic and demographic variation.
    Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Health disparities and health equity, Health reform, Healthcare access, Private health insurance, Rural statistics and demographics, Uninsured and underinsured

Publications - (30)

2024

2023

  • Policy Implications of Fixed-to-Total-Cost Ratio Variation Across Rural and Urban Hospitals
    Journal Article
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 05/2023
    This article utilizes hospital cost report data to estimate the relationship between adjusted volume and total costs of patient care. These results are used to estimate fixed-to-total-cost ratios for all nonfederal, short-term acute care hospitals in the U.S. These ratios were then stratified by rurality and Critical Access Hospital status.

2022

  • An Insurance Profile of Rural America: Chartbook
    Chartbook
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 11/2022
    Over the past decade, health insurance coverage has changed in major ways in rural areas with shifts towards public and publicly subsidized coverage among the nonelderly – Medicaid, Marketplace plans – and a shift towards Medicare Advantage among those eligible for Medicare. This chartbook describes these trends in detail.
  • Health Insurance Marketplaces: Issuer Participation Trends in Non-Metropolitan Places, 2014-22
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Rapid Response to Requests for Rural Data Analysis
    Date: 08/2022
    Since the 2014 implementation of Health Insurance Marketplaces (HIMs), considerable changes have been observed in the number of insurance companies offering plans across the United States. This policy brief describes changes in HIM plan issuers over the 2014-2022 period with an emphasis on variation across metropolitan and non-metropolitan places.

2021

2020

  • Considerations for Defining Rural Places in Health Policies and Programs
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 05/2020
    Rural definitions in statute and policy are used to direct resources to underserved people. But changes in population behavior and census processes have led to concern about historic methods of defining rural. This paper identifies key questions, reviews rural definitions, and discusses options for reconsidering rural definitions.

2019

2018

  • Health Insurance Marketplaces: Issuer Participation and Premium Trends in Rural Places, 2018
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 08/2018
    This brief assesses changes from 2014 to 2018 in average Health Insurance Marketplace plan participation and pre-subsidy premiums in rural and urban places. Insurance carriers reduced participation across both, while the gap between average premiums in expansion and non-expansion states is widening at a similar rate in rural and urban counties.
  • Insuring Rural America: Health Insurance Challenges and Opportunities
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 07/2018
    This brief discusses a series of policy considerations in three main categories: policies related to rural insurance risk, policies related to provider networks, and policies related to rural payment rates and structures.
  • Distance and Networks: A Regional Analysis of Health Insurance Marketplaces
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 02/2018
    Using 2015-16 data on 15 Midwestern states, we examine the possibility that geographic distance to care plays a role in insurance issuer participation, premiums, and enrollment success through its effect on network adequacy and assess the moderating role that state-level policies on network adequacy standards and Rating Area design may have.

2017

  • Rural/Urban Analysis on Individual Insurance Market Topics
    Fact Sheet
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 08/2017
    Some special challenges face the development and sustainability of marketplace plans in rural areas. This data release provides some additional detail on some important topics, with particular importance to rural people, places, and providers.
  • 2016 Rural Enrollment in Health Insurance Marketplaces, by State
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 01/2017
    Cumulative county-level enrollment rates in Health Insurance Marketplaces (HIMs) in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas of each state, defined as the percentage of "potential market" participants selecting plans, are presented as of March 2016. States are separated by Medicaid expansion status.
  • Changing Rural and Urban Enrollment in State Medicaid Programs
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 01/2017
    Medicaid enrollment growth in 36 states is analyzed by rural and expansion status, pre- and post-Affordable Care Act (ACA). Enrollment growth was larger in expansion states but did take place in most states, with significant state-level variation in both groups. Metropolitan areas generally had higher growth than micropolitan and rural areas.

2016

  • Rural Medicare Advantage Market Dynamics and Quality: Historical Context and Current Implications
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 07/2016
    There is significant variation in the quality ratings of MA plans that are available to rural beneficiaries. This brief suggests that policy interventions may be necessary to improve the quality of MA plans in rural areas.
  • Health Insurance Marketplaces: Premium Trends in Rural Areas
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 06/2016
    Total Health Insurance Marketplace premiums have grown disproportionately in rural places in 2016. Urban counties have an average of 4.2 firms, while rural counties average 3.2 firms offering coverage through the HIMs. This causes concern since, at the county level, we find that as the number of firms increases, premiums increase at a slower rate.
  • Rural Medicare Advantage Plan Payment in 2015
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 01/2016
    Payment to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans was fundamentally altered by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). This brief finds that while plans operating in both rural and urban areas have experienced a reduction in MA payment, the reduction in rural payment overall has been less significant.

2015

  • Rural Enrollment in Health Insurance Marketplaces, by State
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 10/2015
    This brief compares cumulative enrollment totals in Health Insurance Marketplaces in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas by state and the percentages of potential market participants enrolled. Non-metropolitan enrollment rates were higher in several states. The analysis shows how well outreach/enrollment efforts targeting rural areas work.
  • Rural Enrollment in Health Insurance Marketplaces
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 07/2015
    This brief analyzes Health Insurance Marketplace enrollment outcomes for 2015 at rating area/county levels. Enrollment rates are reported by number of firms participating and for multiple geographic categories: population density, census region, and metropolitan status of the county. Rural/urban rates are often similar, but areas of concern exist.
  • Health Insurance Marketplaces: Early Findings on Changes in Plan Availability and Premiums in Rural Places, 2014-2015
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 05/2015
    Analysis of national county-level Health Insurance Marketplace (HIM) plan data for 2014 and 2015 shows there is no systematic pattern to rural experiences of HIMs, although some isolated places may be at risk for weak outcomes.
  • 2014: Rural Medicare Advantage Enrollment Update
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 01/2015
    Rural Medicare Advantage (MA) and other prepaid plan enrollment in March 2014 was about 1.95 million, an increase of more than 216,000 from March 2013. Enrollment increased to 1.99 million in October 2014. Rural and urban enrollment increased despite reductions in payment and the conclusion of the MA bonus payment demonstration at 2014's end.

2014

  • Geographic Variation in Premiums in Health Insurance Marketplaces
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 08/2014
    This policy brief analyzes the 2014 premiums of health insurance plans available in the new marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act.
  • A Guide to Understanding the Variation in Premiums in Rural Health Insurance Marketplaces
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 05/2014
    This brief provides a framework for assessing variations in the premiums of plans offered in the Health Insurance Marketplaces across geography.
  • The Uninsured: An Analysis by Age, Income, and Geography
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 02/2014
    This brief analyzes the rural/urban uninsured populations by age. Furthermore, we discuss the potential for age differences between rural and urban uninsured populations to drive Health Insurance Marketplace premiums upward, an effect which may be mitigated or compounded by various other factors.
  • 2012 Rural Medicare Advantage Quality Ratings and Bonus Payments
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 01/2014
    This brief analyzes differences in rural Medicare Advantage (MA) quality ratings and payments and suggests reasons why quality ratings vary by geography. Overall, the quality rating of MA plans in rural areas is lower than in urban areas, a result of the availability of, and enrollment in, different types of MA plans.

2013

  • The Uninsured: An Analysis by Income and Geography
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 06/2013
    This brief reports that a larger proportion of the rural versus urban population is uninsured and low income and will be eligible for subsidized Health Insurance Marketplace coverage due to income levels and current lack of insurance.

2011

  • Rural Medicare Advantage 2011: Enrollment Trends and Plan Characteristics
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 10/2011
    This paper reports findings from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services data analysis to examine the trends/geographic variations in Medicare Advantage (MA) plan enrollment, premiums, and market concentration by firm. The data provide an overview of the MA program in rural America and highlight key rural/urban differences within the program.
  • June 2011: Rural Medicare Advantage Enrollment Update
    RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Date: 09/2011
    This brief shows increases in enrollment into Medicare Advantage plans in rural America. The enrollment is concentrated in plans offered by three firms, especially in the types of plans with high rural enrollment, which are preferred provider organizations and private fee-for-service plans.