Report: Adults in Small Rural Towns Less Satisfied with Access to Care

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) released a new statistical brief analyzing adult ratings of access to medical care in their neighborhoods, breaking down the results by rural and urban areas, age, health status, and insurances.

The brief, based on the 2021 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), found about 17.7 percent of those in nonmetropolitan areas and just 8.2 percent of those in metropolitan areas considered their access to care to be only fair or poor. For adults living in small towns, defined by 9,999 or fewer people, access was the most poorly rated. While nearly one in five adults in only fair or poor health considered their healthcare access to be limited, nearly 43 percent of those living in small rural areas felt care was limited.

About one-third (31.5%) of adults on Medicaid living in small rural areas consider medical care availability to be only fair or poor compared to less than 14.8 percent of their urban counterparts. Over 42 percent of adults in small rural areas with fair or poor health report limited access to care. In small rural areas, all age group, including those eligible for Medicare, reported greater dissatisfaction with medical care availability compared to those in more urban areas.