A new policy brief examined rural and urban differences in barrier to care and use of preventive care services among enrollees in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage. We used Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data to examine barriers to care, such as out of pocket costs, and utilization measures, such as flu shots and cholesterol tests, comparing rural and urban Medicare Advantage enrollees, rural and urban traditional Medicare enrollees, and rural traditional and Medicare Advantage enrollees. Several key findings include:
- Rural Medicare Advantage enrollees faced more barriers in accessing health services due to cost, compared to both their urban counterparts and to all traditional Medicare enrollees.
- A higher percentage of rural Medicare Advantage enrollees reported trouble getting care due to cost compared to rural traditional Medicare enrollees.
- A lower proportion of rural enrollees in both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage received a flu shot compared to their urban counterparts.
- Female Traditional Medicare enrollees living in rural areas were the least likely to utilize health care services compared to both their urban counterparts and Medicare Advantage enrollees.
By Gawain J. Williams, MBA; Dan M. Shane, PhD; Whitney E. Zahnd, PhD; Keith J. Mueller, PhD
Contact Information: Whitney Zahnd; whitney-zahnd@uiowa.edu