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Health Care Use and Access Among Rural and Urban Nonelderly Adult Medicare Beneficiaries

Date
01/2020
Description

Little is known about the characteristics and healthcare use of rural residents with disabilities. Using the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (2009-2013), we compared access to and use of health services among rural and urban nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with a disability and examined their health and functional status along with sociodemographic characteristics. We found that the characteristics of nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with a disability reflected the differences observed between rural and urban populations overall: rural recipients were more likely than their urban peers to be older and have a lower level of educational attainment. Although self-reported access to care appeared comparable among rural and urban nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries, rural Medicare beneficiaries with a disability reported generally poorer health status and greater impairment compared to their urban counterparts, and certain subgroups of rural nonelderly Medicare beneficiaries with a disability reported greater challenges accessing care.

Center
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Authors
Erika Ziller, Amanda Burgess, Deborah Thayer