Comparing the Care and Distance Traveled by Rural and Urban Medicaid Beneficiaries With Opioid Use Disorder
Link
Date
03/2026
Description
Rural patients and patients with Medicaid insurance face barriers to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. This claims-based study describes the treatment for rural versus urban Medicaid beneficiaries with OUD.
Key Findings:
- Rural Medicaid beneficiaries with OUD had fewer average health care visits (64.6) than their urban counterparts (92.3).
- Medicaid beneficiaries with OUD who lived in small and remote rural counties not adjacent to a metro county had the lowest average number of annual visits among rural Medicaid beneficiaries (59.3).
- Rural beneficiaries with OUD overall traveled an average of 70.4 miles to access care.
- Rural Medicaid beneficiaries living in counties not adjacent to a metro county traveled more than twice as far (more than 80 miles on average) for care compared to urban beneficiaries who traveled an average of 32.7 miles.
- Rural Medicaid beneficiaries living in counties adjacent to a metro county traveled an average of 63.5 miles for care.
- The average travel time to care for rural Medicaid beneficiaries was about twice as long as for urban beneficiaries (80 minutes vs. 40 minutes, respectively).
Center
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Authors
Holly Andrilla, Sara Woolcock, Lisa Garberson, Janessa Graves