Healthcare Access in Rural Communities – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Healthcare Access in Rural Communities.
Improving Rural Health: State Policy Options for Increasing Access to Care
Discusses strategies from state legislatures and other stakeholders to increase access to healthcare in rural areas. Focuses on policies and policy options for state legislatures in three areas: improving health insurance coverage, safeguarding rural health facilities, and changing rural healthcare delivery. Features examples from Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Author(s): Jack Pitsor
Date: 06/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Discusses strategies from state legislatures and other stakeholders to increase access to healthcare in rural areas. Focuses on policies and policy options for state legislatures in three areas: improving health insurance coverage, safeguarding rural health facilities, and changing rural healthcare delivery. Features examples from Colorado, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Author(s): Jack Pitsor
Date: 06/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Conference of State Legislatures
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Availability of Health Insurance Literacy Resources Fails to Meet Consumer Needs in Rural, Appalachian Communities: Implications for State Medicaid Waivers
Reports on the availability of health system and community‐based programs promoting health insurance literacy and supporting informed consumer healthcare decision making in rural Kentucky. Findings are based on focus groups and interviews conducted with healthcare providers, community health workers, patient navigators, and others primarily serving rural Appalachian counties in the state.
Author(s): Jean Edward, Robin Thompson, Andrea Jaramillo
Citation: Journal of Rural Health
Date: 06/2020
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Reports on the availability of health system and community‐based programs promoting health insurance literacy and supporting informed consumer healthcare decision making in rural Kentucky. Findings are based on focus groups and interviews conducted with healthcare providers, community health workers, patient navigators, and others primarily serving rural Appalachian counties in the state.
Author(s): Jean Edward, Robin Thompson, Andrea Jaramillo
Citation: Journal of Rural Health
Date: 06/2020
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Access to Medicare Part D Plans: A Comparison of Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Areas
Policy brief focusing on the types of Medicare Part D plans offered in metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore locations. Offers comparisons between stand-alone plans and Medicare Advantage plans, in terms of premiums, benefits, and the manner in which these plans are offered.
Author(s): Mochamad Nataliansyah, Abiodun Salako, Fred Ullrich, Keith Mueller
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Policy brief focusing on the types of Medicare Part D plans offered in metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore locations. Offers comparisons between stand-alone plans and Medicare Advantage plans, in terms of premiums, benefits, and the manner in which these plans are offered.
Author(s): Mochamad Nataliansyah, Abiodun Salako, Fred Ullrich, Keith Mueller
Date: 05/2020
Sponsoring organization: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
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Hospital Access in the Fifth District and COVID-19
Examines hospital access in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Washington D.C. Discusses concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and provides state- and county-level statistics and data on number of hospital beds per capita, average distance to nearest hospitals, and more.
Author(s): Surekha Carpenter, Tim Sablik
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
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Examines hospital access in West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Washington D.C. Discusses concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and provides state- and county-level statistics and data on number of hospital beds per capita, average distance to nearest hospitals, and more.
Author(s): Surekha Carpenter, Tim Sablik
Date: 04/2020
Sponsoring organization: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
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Rural-Urban Differences in the Association Between Individual, Facility, and Clinical Characteristics and Travel Time for Cancer Treatment
Examines the association of patient, facility, and clinical characteristics with round trip travel times for all types of cancer patients living in rural and urban areas with the objective to help providers understand which patients may be most in need of resources to assist with travel.
Author(s): Joel E. Segel, Eugene J. Lengerich
Citation: BMC Public Health, 20(1),196
Date: 02/2020
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Examines the association of patient, facility, and clinical characteristics with round trip travel times for all types of cancer patients living in rural and urban areas with the objective to help providers understand which patients may be most in need of resources to assist with travel.
Author(s): Joel E. Segel, Eugene J. Lengerich
Citation: BMC Public Health, 20(1),196
Date: 02/2020
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Williamson Health and Wellness Center: Williamson, WV
Highlights a Community-Driven Health Equity Action Plan as implemented by the Williamson Health and Wellness Center in West Virginia. Details the goals and focus of the program.
Additional links: Summary
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Academy of Medicine
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Highlights a Community-Driven Health Equity Action Plan as implemented by the Williamson Health and Wellness Center in West Virginia. Details the goals and focus of the program.
Additional links: Summary
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Academy of Medicine
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Gorge Health Equity Collaborative: Columbia Gorge Region, OR and WA
Presents a Community-Driven Health Equity Action Plan as implemented by the Gorge Health Equity Collaborative in Washington and Oregon. Highlights health and healthcare access of children and adults in the Columbia Gorge region.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Academy of Medicine
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Presents a Community-Driven Health Equity Action Plan as implemented by the Gorge Health Equity Collaborative in Washington and Oregon. Highlights health and healthcare access of children and adults in the Columbia Gorge region.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 02/2020
Sponsoring organization: National Academy of Medicine
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Infants Without Health Insurance: Racial/Ethnic and Rural/Urban Disparities in Infant Households' Insurance Coverage
Explores how the uneven expansion of Medicaid affects the racial/ethnic health insurance coverage for infants across rural and urban areas in the U.S. Highlights spatial patterns in health insurance coverage among infants, and examines the probability that an infant will be born without health insurance coverage using 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data and logistic regression.
Author(s): Scott R. Sanders, Michael R. Cope, Paige N. Park, Wesley Jeffery, Jorden E. Jackson
Citation: PLoS ONE, 15(1)
Date: 01/2020
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Explores how the uneven expansion of Medicaid affects the racial/ethnic health insurance coverage for infants across rural and urban areas in the U.S. Highlights spatial patterns in health insurance coverage among infants, and examines the probability that an infant will be born without health insurance coverage using 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data and logistic regression.
Author(s): Scott R. Sanders, Michael R. Cope, Paige N. Park, Wesley Jeffery, Jorden E. Jackson
Citation: PLoS ONE, 15(1)
Date: 01/2020
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Health Care Use and Access among Rural and Urban Nonelderly Adult Medicare Beneficiaries
Highlights healthcare access and utilization by disabled adults under 65 who are enrolled in Medicare. Compares rural and urban participants by demographics and geographic region, among other measures.
Author(s): Erika Ziller, Amanda Burgess, Deborah Thayer
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Highlights healthcare access and utilization by disabled adults under 65 who are enrolled in Medicare. Compares rural and urban participants by demographics and geographic region, among other measures.
Author(s): Erika Ziller, Amanda Burgess, Deborah Thayer
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
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Marketplace Premiums and Insurer Participation: 2017-2020
Reports on changes in average lowest silver premiums in the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces from 2017 to 2020 by state. Table 2 includes rural state-level lowest silver premiums by year for selected states, as well as year-over-year percent change.
Author(s): John Holahan, Erik Wengle, Caroline Elmendorf
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Urban Institute
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Reports on changes in average lowest silver premiums in the Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplaces from 2017 to 2020 by state. Table 2 includes rural state-level lowest silver premiums by year for selected states, as well as year-over-year percent change.
Author(s): John Holahan, Erik Wengle, Caroline Elmendorf
Date: 01/2020
Sponsoring organizations: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Urban Institute
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Last Updated: 6/9/2025