People in urban areas had better access to care and lower copays than
rural areas

Date:
February 1, 2022
Source:
University of Georgia
Summary:
Substance abuse, access to mental health care and costs remain
a burden for people living in rural areas, even if they have
private insurance.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Substance abuse, access to mental health care and costs remain a burden
for people living in rural areas, even if they have private insurance.


========================================================================== These are the findings of a new study published recently in theJournal
of Rural Health.

The study, led by Zhuo "Adam" Chen at the University of Georgia College
of Public Health, examined over 10 years of insurance claims data from
2005 to 2018, detailing how adults with employer-based, private insurance
used and paid for mental health care services in urban and rural areas.

The researchers found that overall, urban enrollees used more mental
health care than rural ones. And although the usage gap narrowed from
2005 to 2018, the quality and cost of care weren't equitable, even for privately insured patients.

"Rural enrollees have a higher share of copays, and they are relying
on primary care physicians and nurses much more than the urban area
enrollees," said Chen.

Higher personal costs for rural patients Rural patients also paid higher out-of-pocket costs for mental health care, according to the study.



==========================================================================
The reason for this is unclear from this analysis, but it's likely,
said Chen, that rural enrollees had to use providers outside of their
insurance networks more often due to a lack of specialists in their areas, which would mean paying more for those services.

The study showed urban enrollees had higher rates of depression, but
Chen said the data is tricky to interpret because it's unclear whether
more city dwellers were struggling with depression or just had better
access to care.

But, claims data underscored the rise of substance abuse in rural
communities observed in the last decade.

"Even among those in better economic conditions -- they have a job and
they have health insurance -- I do think that this highlights the burden
of substance abuse in rural areas," said Chen.

Lack of providers driving gaps Geography continues to play an outsized
role in a person's ability to access mental health care, mostly because
the availability of specialists in rural areas is dwindling as demand
for mental health services is increasing.

The authors offer two policy recommendations to better connect patients
with mental health services: incentivize mental health providers to
practice in rural areas and expand telemedicine.

Chen says more work is needed to understand how provider shortages,
geography and insurance networks overlap to contribute to the gaps they observed in this study.

special promotion Explore the latest scientific research on sleep and
dreams in this free online course from New Scientist -- Sign_up_now_>>> ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Georgia. Original
written by Lauren Baggett. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Zhuo Chen, Kakoli Roy, Jaya Shankar Khushalani, Richard
W. Puddy. Trend
in rural‐urban disparities in access to outpatient
mental health services among US adults aged 18‐64 with
employer‐sponsored insurance: 2005‐2018. The Journal
of Rural Health, 2022; DOI: 10.1111/jrh.12644 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220201144024.htm

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