Medicaid is an important source of health insurance coverage for both rural residents and rural providers. Rural residents are more likely to live in poverty than urban residents, and are less likely to have employer sponsored health insurance coverage. As a result, rural residents are more likely to be covered by Medicaid than are urban residents. Many rural providers are also reliant on Medicaid as a primary source of third party reimbursement.

Although Medicaid plays a critical role in financing healthcare for rural residents, many rural advocates are not as knowledgeable about this program as they are about other federal or state health programs affecting rural providers or recipients. Representatives from State Offices of Rural Health asked the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center to develop state-specific fact sheets which briefly describe each state's Medicaid program, including rural-specific information. The state-specific fact sheets will include information on the groups covered (and income eligibility), structure of the state's SCHIP program, services covered, delivery system, some provider payment information for certain safety net providers, and percentage of the state's rural and urban population that are enrolled in Medicaid. Additional information comparing urban and rural areas of the state will be provided, when available. The rural and urban comparisons will include total numbers of Medicaid recipients, Medicaid expenditures, and enrollment in different types of managed care plans. Results from this study will be presented as a web-based Medicaid guide.

Publications

• State Profiles of Medicaid and SCHIP in Rural and Urban Areas
  North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
  Date: 08/2007
  This final report is one component of a larger project that includes the development of web-based State Profiles of Medicaid and SCHIP in Rural and Urban Areas. The report provides national data comparing Medicaid enrollment and expenditures in rural and urban counties.