Clinicians & Providers

• Associations between Minimum Wage Policy and Access to Health Care: Evidence from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 1996-2007

Policymaker Resources

• Improving Access and Quality

Fact Sheets

July 1 2003 20030701

Improving Access and Quality

Other Research & Data

• Lower socioeconomic status in childhood linked to racial differences in disability during adulthood
• National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
• National Estimates of Health Insurance Coverage, Mental Health Utilization, and Spending for Low-Income Individuals

News & Numbers

June 16 2011 20110616

Six of Every 10 Rural Emergency Departments Visits Made by Poor Patients

November 18 2010 20101118

Rates of Hospital Emergency Department Use Greater Among Women and Low-Income, Older, and Rural Americans

Other News & Events

• Access to care for patients with lupus affected by several local factors
• Benefits under the Affordable Care Act would have reduced out-of-pocket expenses
• Black children are more likely to be hospitalized for a ruptured appendix than white children
• Blacks have longer PSA screening intervals than whites
• Blacks with lung cancer have higher mortality rates than whites
• Certain Americans pay more than 10 percent of their family income to pay for medical expenses
• Children's underenrollment in State health insurance programs may be due in part to parents' confusion about coverage
• Children's unmet health needs similar for low- and middle-income families with either public or private insurance
• Community hubs ensure better care for the most vulnerable
• Consider local health care systems when designing services for the uninsured
• Creating networks to provide social support for the homeless may improve health outcomes
• Dependent elderly people are adversely affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa
• Diabetes testing plummets among poor, minority, and inner-city adults
• Disadvantages in housing, food, and health care all predict health declines in older Americans
• Disparities widen in the use of asthma medications
• Drug industry-sponsored patient assistance programs are seldom used by older adults
• Even with universal health insurance, the homeless in Canada encounter barriers to obtaining health care
• Expert workshop discusses disparities in health care quality and role of health IT in underresourced settings
• Four million hospital admissions potentially unnecessary
• Health Care Quality Gaps and Disparities Persist in Every State
• Health care quality still improving slowly, but disparities and gaps in access to care persist
• Health insurance is necessary but not sufficient for children's access to care
• Homeless and underserved women may not be receiving empiric treatment
• Homeless recent immigrants are healthier than other homeless individuals
• Hospital readmissions for COPD highest among black patients
• Increased child hospitalizations are associated with the mother's mental state and confidence in parenting
• Increasing premiums and other costs in Oregon's Medicaid program in 2003 led many to drop out
• Individuals who seek care for coughs and colds in emergency departments have social support
• Leaving the emergency department without being seen more likely at hospitals that serve more low-income patients
• Low- and middle-income children with public and private insurance have similar rates of unmet health care needs
• Low-income patients who perceive more control over their diabetes have higher quality of life
• Lower socioeconomic status in childhood linked to racial differences in disability during adulthood
• Many homeless women are reluctant to get free Pap smears
• Many minority patients do not receive or complete colorectal cancer screening tests in urban, primary care settings
• Medicare payment caps on home care add to the family caregiving burden, especially among lower-income families
• Men shy away from routine medical appointments
• More stress means worse asthma in inner-city adults
• Nationwide survey shows free clinics provide care to nearly 2 million patients
• Neighborhood surroundings may affect whether children are overweight
• Neighborhoods, abuse, and anxiety contribute to low birth weights
• New Web Videonovela Series Helps Spanish-Speaking Patients Compare Treatments for Diabetes
• Nursing home users of information technology start to see its benefits
• Older black women with breast cancer do not receive beneficial chemotherapy as often as white women
• Patients with financial worries or no insurance delay going to the hospital for a heart attack
• Patients' income and where they live influence hospitalization for chronic lung disease
• Perceived lower social standing linked to unplanned pregnancies
• Perception of racial discrimination among blacks linked to socioeconomic position
• Poorer patients less likely to receive specific treatment for head and neck cancer
• Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with elevated hemoglobin A1c levels in low-income blacks with diabetes
• Poverty, race, and gender are all factors in the epidemic of severely obese children
• Practice setting, ownership, and specialty all affect volume of charity care provided by physicians
• Rates of emergency department use greater among women and low-income, older, and rural Americans
• Regional poverty boosts adults' chances of having unmet health care needs
• Rising health care costs may have spurred more individuals to use complementary and alternative medicine
• Sex-related health differences associated with income and marital status
• Six of every 10 rural emergency departments visits made by poor patients
• Socioeconomically disadvantaged blacks have the worst long-term outcomes from work-related low back pain
• State Medicaid Policy Changes Increasingly Driven by Evidence
• The financial burden from prescription drugs has declined for the nonelderly, but remains a problem for some groups
• The stability of a usual source of care is important to the care of low-income children
• Uncontrolled asthma events among Massachusetts patients declined between 2002 and 2007
• Uninsured patients respond well to paying a monthly retainer for primary care services
• Veterans who use pharmacy services at VA facilities tend to be sicker, poorer, and have no alternative insurance
• Vulnerable populations with heart failure less likely to receive early physician followup after discharge
• Where low-wage employees work, who their colleagues are, and spouses' wage level affect health insurance coverage and cost
• Youths initially diagnosed with ADHD receive an array of medications