Tools
ACA and You: How to Anticipate Changes in Rural Places (Webinar)
Other
Webinar, presented by Keith Mueller, discusses the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) or (ACA) and how it could affect rural residents, providers and their communities.
Access for All America: Expanding the Reach of Community Health Centers To Provide Care to Those without a Health Care Home
Web site
Working to reduce the ranks of America’s medically disenfranchised by preserving, strengthening and expanding health centers from a stable base to reach a total of 30 million patients by the year 2015.
Affordable Care Act: An Update from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (Webinar)
Web site
Webinar, presented by Ronnie Musgrove, discusses recommendations on various aspects of the Affordable Care Act to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
Web site
Low cost health and dental insurance for uninsured children and pregnant women in families with incomes too high for most Medicaid programs. CHIP is financed through the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA).
Children’s Coverage and SCHIP Reauthorization Issue Module
Web site
Includes information about children’s health insurance coverage and SCHIP in different sections including a background brief, key data, policy research, webcasts/presentations, and key organizations.
CO-OP Health Plans: Can They Help Fix Rural America's Health Insurance Markets? (Webinar)
Web site
Webinar, presented by Andrew Coburn and Bill Oemichen, discusses Consumer-Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) programs and their potential effect on rural healthcare delivery systems.
Commonwealth Fund ChartCart
Web site
Offers access to data charts on various health care themes developed by The Commonwealth Fund.
Coverage
Web site
Formerly called Cover the Uninsured. Presents information on resources, policy, programs, and publications addressing the issue of uninsurance.
FIELD Health Insurance Resources
Web site
A set of resources for microenterprise practitioners to help them access affordable health insurance.
HealthCare.gov
Web site
A consumer website that provides one-stop shopping access for health care information that includes: federal and state public policies, comparison of private coverage and option plans, and personal health tools.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) - General Information
Web site
Links to information on HIPAA health insurance reform and Administrative Simplification provisions.
InsureKidsNow.gov
Web site
Supplies information on free and low-cost health insurance programs for children including Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program).
MEPS Insurance/Employer Component
Web site
Provides access to national and state-level statistics and trends regarding employer-based health insurance, about health insurance offered by private establishments, plus national and regional health insurance estimates for State and local governments.
Online Services for Key Low-Income Benefit Programs
Web site
Offers information on food stamps, Medicaid, CHIP, TANF and child care.
Rural Health Research: Health insurance and the uninsured
Web site
Provides summaries of current and completed rural health research projects and related publications addressing the topic of health insurance and the uninsured, produced by the Office of Rural Health Policy's funded rural health research centers.
Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) for Counties and States
Web site
Provides model-based estimates of health insurance coverage for counties and states by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, and income. Website provides links to maps, data sets, and interactive tables.
State Coverage Initiatives
Web site
Works with states to plan, execute, and maintain health insurance expansions, as well as to improve the availability and affordability of health care coverage.
State Coverage Initiatives for Children
Web site
Map and state-by-state summary of state efforts to provide health insurance coverage for children.
State Expansions Resource Center
Web site
Describes ways that states across the country are expanding affordable, quality health coverage to more people.
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
2007 Health Insurance Survey of Missouri Farm and Ranch Operators, Executive Summary: Health Care in the Heartland
Author(s): Bill Lottero, Carol Pryor, Mark Rukavina, Jeffrey Prottas, Sidney Watson
Sponsoring organization: Access Project
Presents the results of a survey involving 257
Missouri farmers and ranchers to gather data about their health insurance and the burden that health care expenses are placing on farm and ranch families.
Date: 2008
Affordable Care Act, What's in it?: Rural Young Adults
Author(s): Alyssa Charney
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Examines how the Affordable Care Act benefits young adults, specifically those in rural areas, with provisions that include the ability to remain on their parents’ policies, the creation of health insurance marketplaces, the elimination of pre-existing conditions, and incentives for employers to provide coverage.
Date: 06 / 2011
Characteristics of Rural & Urban Children Who Qualify For Medicaid or CHIP But Are Not Enrolled (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jennifer King, Rebecca Slifkin, Mark Holmes
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Reports that there are rural-urban and regional
differences in the race and ethnicity of
qualified-but-uninsured children; about 6 in 10 qualified-but-uninsured children have family incomes below the federal poverty level; children of all ages are qualified for Medicaid or CHIP but not enrolled.
Date: 07 / 2009
CO-OP Health Plans: Can They Help Fix Rural America’s Health Insurance Markets?
Author(s): Andy Coburn, Jean Talbot, Erika Ziller, Zach Gage-Croll
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Assesses the opportunities and challenges of using
the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) program to address the limitations of
the rural private health insurance market.
Date: 06 / 2011
Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) Program Under the Affordable Care Act: Potential and Options for Spreading Mission
Author(s): Sara R. Collins
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Testimony presented before the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) Program Advisory Board on the Affordable Care Act’s CO-OP Program with a focus on rural.
Date: 01 / 2011
Focus on Funding: Funding for SCHIP Outreach
Author(s): Beth Blevins
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Discusses the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), public health insurance programs, and federal and private funding for outreach.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 03 / 2007
Hard Times in the Heartland: Health Care in Rural America
Author(s): Meena Seshamani, Joan Van Nostrand, Jenna Kennedy, Carrie Cochran
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Discusses the current state of health care in rural areas and the need for health care reform. Covers the use and cost of insurance and health care for farm and ranch operators, poverty and unemployment rates, health disparities, and the state of health care provider workforce in rural America.
Date: 03 / 2009
Health Care Reform, What's in It?: Small Business
Author(s): Jon M. Bailey
Sponsoring organization: Center for Rural Affairs
Describes the prevalence of small businesses in rural areas and summarizes provisions in the new health care reform law that will have an effect on small businesses.
Date: 05 / 2010
Health Coverage and Access to Care for Hispanics in "New Growth Communities" and "Major Hispanic Centers"
Author(s): Peter Cunningham, Michelle Banker, Samantha Artiga, Jennifer Tolbert
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Describes health insurance coverage and access to health care for Hispanics as the Hispanic population grows and moves beyond urban centers to rural and smaller urban communities. Compares Hispanics with non-Hispanic whites in these communities.
Date: 09 / 2006
Health Insurance Coverage and Access to Health Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Elders
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
Reports findings from a study assessing health insurance coverage and access to health care among American Indian and Alaska Native elders (Native elders), using data from a national survey that included more than 8,300 Native elders.
Date: 10 / 2007
Health Insurance Coverage in America, 2008
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Includes figures and tables providing information about health insurance coverage, plus the social, economic, and health status of nonelderly, children, nonelderly adults, and working adults.
Date: 12 / 2010
Health Insurance Profile Indicates Need for Reform in Rural Areas (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Jennifer Lenardson, Erika Ziller, Andrew Coburn, Nathaniel Anderson
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural residents-particularly in the most remote rural communities-are in greater need of health reform, as demonstrated by an uninsured rate higher than that of urban residents. The rural-urban disparity in coverage is driven by higher uninsured rates among rural adults, a group that should be part of any strategic effort to improve coverage. Analyses are based on the 2004-05 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
Date: 07 / 2009
Impact of Employment Transitions on Health Insurance Coverage of Rural Residents
Author(s): Nathaniel J. Anderson, Erika C. Ziller, Melanie M. Race, Andrew F. Coburn
Sponsoring organization: Muskie School of Public Service Institute for Health Policy
Explores the impact of changes in employment status on insurance coverage for rural and urban workers.
Date: 10 / 2010
Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010
Author(s): Carmen DeNavas-Walt, Bernadette D. Proctor, Jessica C. Smith
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Census Bureau
Provides the latest income, poverty, and health insurance data from the Current Population Survey.
Date: 09 / 2011
Low-Income & Rural Beneficiaries with Medigap Coverage, 2008
Author(s): Lisa Carpenter, Christelle Chen, Kelly Buck
Sponsoring organization: AHIP Center for Policy and Research
Discusses data from the 2008 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) that shows how Medigap is particularly important to low- and moderate-income beneficiaries, especially those living in rural areas. Medigap supplemental coverage helps Medicare beneficiaries fill gaps in their benefits.
Date: 12 / 2010
Many Rural and Urban Workers Lose Health Insurance During Job Transitions
Author(s): Nathaniel Anderson, Erika Ziller, Melanie Race, Andrew Coburn
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Provides information about the health insurance coverage challenges that rural workers may face. Explores the impact of employment status changes on insurance coverage for rural versus urban workers. Identifies opportunities for implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in rural areas.
Date: 10 / 2010
Many Urban and Rural Workers Lose Health Insurance During Job Transitions (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Nathaniel J. Anderson, Erika C. Ziller, Melanie M. Race, Andrew F. Coburn
Sponsoring organization: Muskie School of Public Service Institute for Health Policy
Explores the impact of changes in employment status on insurance coverage for rural and urban workers.
Date: 10 / 2010
Modernizing Rural Health Care: Coverage, Quality and Innovation
Sponsoring organization: UnitedHealth Center for Health Reform and Modernization
Examines health needs of rural populations, and how well the health care system addresses them. Presents new data on rural care quality; on the
views of people living in rural areas; and what their physicians see as the major challenges to overcome. This is the sixth in a series of working papers by UnitedHealth Group focusing on health reform topics.
Date: 07 / 2011
More Choices, Better Coverage: Health Insurance Reform and Rural America
Author(s): Julie Chang, Meena Seshamani, Joan Van Nostrand, Jenna Kennedy, Carrie Cochran
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Describes how the economic downturn may increase many of the health and access disparities that are already a problem in rural communities. Presents possible health insurance reform solutions.
Date: 10 / 2009
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Impacts on Rural People, Places, and Providers: A First Look
Author(s): Andrew F. Coburn, Jennifer P. Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy D. McBride, Keith J. Mueller
Sponsoring organization: Rural Policy Research Institute Rural Health Panel
Summarizes six issue areas of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and discusses implications for access to services and improving the health status of rural residents. These issue areas are: health insurance coverage; Medicare and Medicaid payment; quality, financing, and delivery system reform; public health; healthcare workforce; and long-term care.
Date: 09 / 2010
Private Health Insurance in Rural Areas: Challenges and Reform Options (Policy Brief)
Author(s): Erika Ziller, Andrew Coburn
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Reports that rural residents are less likely than their urban counterparts to have private health insurance coverage.
Date: 04 / 2009
Rates of Public Health Insurance Coverage for Children Rise as Rates of Private Coverage Decline
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean, Michael J. Staley, Jessica D. Ulrich
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Uses data from the 2008, 2009, and 2010 American Community Survey to document changes in rates of children’s health insurance, between private and public. Found that rural places experienced declines in rates of private health
insurance for children.
Date: 12 / 2011
Recent Changes in Health Insurance Coverage in Rural and Urban Areas
Author(s): Jennifer King, George M. Holmes
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center (Cecil G. Sheps Center)
Compares changes in health insurance coverage for non-elderly Americans in rural areas to changes in urban areas during the recent economic recession.
Date: 05 / 2011
Research Brief: Insurance Coverage and Access to Care in Primary Care Shortage Areas
Author(s): Catherine Hoffman, Anthony Damico, Rachel Garfield
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Examines insurance coverage (including designations for private insurance vs. Medicaid and other public sources, plus uninsured rates) and access to care among the nonelderly population residing in Primary Care HPSAs (Health Professional Shortage Areas).
Date: 02 / 2011
Rural Families More Likely to be Uninsured and Have Different Sources of Coverage
Sponsoring organization: Maine Rural Health Research Center
Research and policy brief examining patterns of health insurance coverage within rural families and comparing family-level insurance status for rural and urban families.
Date: 06 / 2007
Rural Policy Implications for Health Insurance Exchanges
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
Presents policy recommendations from the National Advisory Committee regarding key provisions from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Date: 03 / 2011
Summary of Coverage Provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Family Foundation
Describes the health coverage provisions contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, including: individual mandate requirements, expansion of public programs, health insurance exchanges, changes to private insurance, employer requirements, and cost and coverage estimates.
Date: 04 / 2010
Timeline for Health Care Reform Implementation: Health Insurance Provisions
Sponsoring organization: Commonwealth Fund
Presents a timeline which outlines when the various health insurance provisions will go into effect.
Date: 04 / 2010
Total Children Covered by Health Insurance Increased in 2009
Author(s): Jessica A. Bean, Michael J. Staley
Sponsoring organization: Carsey Institute
Uses 2008 and 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) to examine changes in overall insurance coverage rates, changes in types of coverage, and differences by region, state or territory, and place type (including rural designation).
Date: 07 / 2011
Uninsured: A Primer - Key Facts About Americans Without Health Insurance
Sponsoring organization: Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Reviews the basic profile of the uninsured population, how they receive care, the latest trends in health insurance coverage, and what the options are for increasing coverage. Includes Supplemental Data Tables.
Date: 10 / 2011
