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Rural Health
Research Gateway

Uninsured and underinsured

Current Projects

  • Changes in Rural Health Insurance Coverage, 2020-2023
    This project uses secondary data sources to characterize changes in health insurance coverage during the public health emergency (2020-2023) for rural and urban people according to demographic, employment, and geographic characteristics, and to describe how changes in federal policies impacted coverage. Researchers also assess the potential impact of maintaining more robust marketplace subsidies on rural and urban coverage rates once the "unwinding" of continuous Medicaid enrollment is complete.
    Research center: RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
    Topics: Health reform, Healthcare financing, Medicaid and CHIP, Medicare, Medicare Advantage (MA), Private health insurance, Rural statistics and demographics, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Out-of-Pocket Spending Among Privately Insured Rural and Urban Residents
    Out-of-pocket spending for healthcare services has been on the rise as deductibles and other cost-sharing requirements among the privately insured increase. This study compares rural and urban out-of-pocket healthcare spending to identify whether rural residents have been disproportionately affected by this trend.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Healthcare access, Healthcare financing, Private health insurance, Public health, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Rural-Urban Differences in Out-of-Pocket Prescription Drug Spending
    Using data from the 2014-17 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this study will examine rural-urban differences in out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs. Additional analyses will examine rural-urban differences in out-of-pocket costs by type of medication and third party payer.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Pharmacy and prescription drugs, Uninsured and underinsured
  • Suicide Mortality: A Comparison of Urban and Rural Rates
    Suicide contributes to significant mortality in the United States. This project will examine the differences in suicide rates by geography and explore its driving factors among urban and rural areas in the United States from 2018 to 2021. The research design of this study will adopt a cross-sectional, retrospective approach, using secondary data.
    Research center: ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Healthcare access, Mental and behavioral health, Public health, Rural statistics and demographics, Uninsured and underinsured