Using data from the 2002-2007 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), this study examined access to care and service use among non-elderly, uninsured rural and urban residents.

Key Findings include:

• Uninsured residents of both rural and urban areas face serious barriers to care compared to those with health insurance coverage.
• The rural uninsured are more likely to have a usual source of care and to have used ambulatory care in the past year than the urban uninsured.
• Insured or not, rural residents have difficulty accessing after hours care and traveling to see their usual provider