Challenges for Improving Health Care Access in Rural America. A Compendium of Research and Policy Analysis Studies of Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Centers 2009-2010

摘要

This document presents the studies in six sections according to subject matter. The first section, focused on health insurance and its financing, begins with a study that examines the impact of rising unemployment on health insurance. Subsequent studies profile rural health insurance overall and private health insurance in particular. Building on this work, the section ends with a study of a rural-urban comparison of a building blocks approach to covering the uninsured. The next section presents research and policy analysis studies on access to care for rural populations. Included works cover selected measures of access, use of preventive services, and children's access to Medicaid and CHIP. The third section includes profiles of the impact of the economic downturn by examining specific rural communities and their health care sectors. Sections four and five of the compendium focus on issues in rural health workforce, covering the crisis situation for primary care physicians, general surgeons, registered nurses, and dentists. Studies on the future supply of primary care physicians consider the challenges presented by the aging of the existing pool of primary care physicians and by the availability of residency training to develop the future pool of family medicine physicians. The final section covers health system challenges with an emphasis on rural impacts of financing and quality initiatives.