Study: Over 1/3 of rural Americans skip care due to costs

Commonwealth Fund graph from Health Policy Survey data

Over a third of rural Americans will skip needed health care because they can't afford it, The Commonwealth Fund reports, based on its 2020 International Health Policy Survey. It "found that 36 percent of rural Americans did not get the care they needed due to costs, which is more than double the rate for rural residents in six other countries the study looked at," reports Lauren Sforza of The Hill. "Less than 10 percent of rural residents in the United Kingdom, Norway and Sweden reported that they did not get medical care due to costs."

Sfioza adds, "The survey found that nearly 25 percent of rural Americans reported serious problems with being able to pay their medical bills or not being able to pay them at all. In nine of the other countries, less than one in 10 rural residents reported the same thing. The survey noted that the 10 other countries looked at all had a universal health care system, which the U.S. does not have. The survey also pointed to census data that showed about 12 percent of the American rural population does not have health insurance as a reason why the U.S. fell short of what the other countries reported."

The study report says, "With affordability problems preventing Americans from seeing their doctor, it is no surprise that rural Americans also are more likely to have higher rates of chronic conditions and some of the highest rates of mental health conditions." The Commonweath Fund says its mission is "to promote a high-performing, equitable health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society’s most vulnerable."