Access to Health Care

Meredith Herbst
Pasquale Iannucci
Gary Debarbieri
Justine Clifford
Vincen Cherian
 Objectives
Describe who are the uninsured and underinsured in US

Examine some of the non-economic barriers to health care

Evaluate the impact of barriers to health care on the

individuals and the health care system

Review how these barriers impact us as physical

therapists

Evaluate what has been or can be done to attempt to

improve access to health care?
Health Care Access
How to define proper
coverage?
Health insurance coverage

“Health insurance is broadly defined to include both

public and private payers who cover medical
expenditures incurred by a defined population in a
variety of settings. “-
 Health Care Access
Differences in access to health care:
Can have far-reaching consequences
Life Span
Health care spending and Density of doctors
Underinsured and Uninsured
Most prevalent in the following areas:
Unemployed
Poor
Minorities
Elderly
Disabilities
 Uninsured
Categorized as “uninsured” if a citizen does not have
coverage under:
Private health insurance
Medicare
Medicaid
Public assistance
A state-sponsored health plan
Other government-sponsored programs
Military health plan
What are the
Non-economic barriers
to health care
Primary leading causes:
Maldistribution of health resources
Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)
Density of doctors
Language
Rural Locations
Limited public transport
High poverty rates
Access to safe water
Adequate nutrition
Improvements in access to health
care
What Has Been Done?
Improvements in access to health
care cont.
 Citations

Luft,H. Hershey,J. Factors Affecting the Use of

Physician Services In a Rural Community AJPH.
September 1976;(66): 9
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/66/9/8
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