Medicaid and rural health care

The impact of Medicaid policies on systems of rural health care has typically been understood in terms of payment methods and rates. But Medicaid agencies have multifaceted influences, including service funding, promotion of access and quality, and infrastructure. We present in this article a general framework to explore these facets and examine literature that has attempted to identify and measure the impacts of the Medicaid program on rural health care systems. While the literature is relatively sparse, there is evidence that rural health systems have been both bolstered and challenged by Medicaid policies in several areas. Several contemporary developments in Medicaid, including increased state flexibility, uneven coverage expansion, and aggressive Medicaid purchasing strategies, suggest that tensions between Medicaid policy and rural health care needs could grow in the future. These tensions provide focus for developing a research agenda that explores the intersection of Medicaid and rural concerns; a number of research questions that would be a part of this agenda are presented.