Question

Other than financial resources, what are some additional barriers to healthcare in America?

Has the Affordable Healthcare Act solved our current healthcare dilemma? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Barriers to health services include: High cost of care. Inadequate or no insurance coverage. Lack of availability of services.

Lack of healthcare professionals in rural areas

Even though rural communities contain about 20% of America’s population, less than 10% of physicians practice in these communities. Likewise, fewer dentists practice in rural areas. Even the majority of EMS first responders in rural areas are volunteers.

Geographic barriers

In rural areas residents need to travel greater distances to access different points of the health care delivery system. Health care facilities in these areas are small and often provide limited services. Often, due to geographic distance, extreme weather conditions, environmental and climatic barriers, lack of public transportation, and challenging roads, rural residents may be limited/ prohibited from accessing health care services.

Rural area residents need to travel greater distances for healthcare. "Birtha", the VA Palo Alto's mobile healthcare van brings medical services to patients in rural areas.

Access to healthcare services and benefits

Timely access to emergency care is a major issue for rural residents. Response times by emergency medical personnel and transport times via ambulance to
the hospital are notably greater than in urban areas.[1]

The difficulties of access to health care facilities may impair outcomes by increasing patients’ physical and emotional stress, reducing the likelihood of seeking follow-up care, and limiting proximate family support.[2]

Rural people are less likely to be covered by Medicaid benefit. Rural residents are less likely to have employer- provided health care coverage or prescription drug coverage. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission documented lower average Medicare costs and lower likelihood of using Medicare hospice benefits for rural beneficiaries in the last year of life.

Nonfinancial barriers are common reasons for unmet need or delayed care among U.S. adults and frequently coincide with affordability barriers. Failure to address nonfinancial barriers may limit the impact of policies that seek to expand access by improving the affordability of health care.

While the affordability of health care has long been recognized as a central element of access, many patients may face barriers that extend beyond their ability to pay for services

These nonfinancial barriers have significant implications for the implementation of PPACA. For example, the identification of and development of plans to address common nonfinancial barriers—particularly those that co-exist with problems affording care—could maximize the likelihood that substantial investments in improving the affordability of care will translate into true gains in access. On the other hand, policy makers’ inattention to prevalent nonfinancial barriers could potentially lead to adverse consequences. Reductions in only affordability-related access barriers could perpetuate—if not exacerbate—access disparities if certain groups disproportionately experience nonfinancial barriers. Public support for health reform could wane among individuals who are required to purchase health insurance but are unable to effectively access care due to remaining nonfinancial barriers.