Barriers to health care among rural adults by disability status

Access to health care supports both individual and population health. Ample research demonstrates access barriers faced by rural residents and people with disabilities; however, less research has examined access barriers for rural residents by disability status or explored differences across multiple types of access barriers. This brief report addresses this gap by examining 11 financial and nonfinancial barriers to accessing health care among rural adults by disability status.

Using nationally representative data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey and focusing on rural adults (n = 4,703), we conducted bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses comparing 11 separate access barriers by disability status and generated adjusted predicted probabilities of experiencing these barriers, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics.

Overall, compared to those without disabilities, rural people with disabilities had significantly higher adjusted predicted probabilities of 8 of the 11 access barriers. These include delaying multiple types of care due to cost, not being able to afford prescriptions, and delaying care due to facility hours, insurance acceptance, transportation, and travel time. Rural people with disabilities were, however, more likely than their nondisabled counterparts to report having a usual place for care.

Rural individuals with disabilities face more barriers to care than their peers without disabilities, including delaying care, which can potentially worsen health outcomes. Our findings provide important information for policymakers to improve access to care at the intersection of rurality and disability.