Rural disparities in health care availability and accessibility have been frequently identified and quantified, and rural disparities in health care coverage have been identified as a means of operationalizing the domain of affordability. However, additional domains of health care access have been studied to a lesser extent, including other means of assessing affordability (delays in care due to cost), accommodation, and acceptability have not been frequently evaluated in population-based studies. We hypothesized that rural populations, particularly Black rural populations, would have less access to health care services as operationalized by variables available in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System health care access optional module.

Our goal was to evaluate rural-urban, racial/ethnic, and regional differences in access to care using a population-based survey through the following aims:

1. To examine the rural-urban differences in affordability of health care overall and stratified by race/ethnicity.
2. To assess the rural-urban differences in accommodation in health care overall and stratified by race/ethnicity.
3. To determine the rural-urban differences in acceptability of health care overall and stratified by race/ethnicity.

Publications

• Accommodation and Acceptability of Health Care by Non-Metropolitan/Metropolitan and Race/Ethnicity Status
  Policy Brief
  Rural and Minority Health Research Center
  Date: 07/2023
  This research examined rural-urban (i.e., non-metropolitan/metropolitan) differences in accommodation and acceptability of health care by operationalizing two survey questions from the health care access optional module of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey.
• Health Care Access Barriers Among Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Populations of Eight Geographically Diverse States, 2018
  Journal Article
  Rural and Minority Health Research Center
  Date: 06/2024
  This research focused on differences in barriers to health care access across metropolitan, micropolitan, and noncore populations. More access and cost related barriers are experienced by micropolitan respondents. These populations experience health care disparities and financial burdens that emphasize the need to mitigate these barriers.
• Variations in Affordability of Health Care by Non-Metropolitan/Metropolitan and Race/Ethnicity Status Across Eight Geographically Dispersed States
  Policy Brief
  Rural and Minority Health Research Center
  Date: 01/2023
  This research examined rural-urban (i.e., non-metropolitan/metropolitan) differences in affordability inclusive of insurance coverage and cost barriers. The research also examined forgoing medical care/medication and medical debt using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data from the healthcare access optional module.