Research Alert: January 21, 2021

Barriers to Health Care Access for Rural Medicare Beneficiaries: Recommendations from Rural Health Clinics

Access to health care is essential for maintaining good health, but people in rural areas often face specific barriers to access, including in primary care. To date, there is limited information outlining specific barriers that are encountered by safety net providers in serving rural Medicare beneficiaries, including Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) that were designed to increase access for rural residents. This policy brief presents findings from an online survey of RHCs describing barriers for Medicare patients in accessing healthcare services and recommendations for how to improve access to care for Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas.

Additional Resources of Interest:

• More information about the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
• More information from the Rural Health Information Hub's topic guides: Healthcare Access, Healthcare Quality, Rural Health Clinics