Medicaid Payment and Delivery System Reform: Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Health Systems
Compared to their urban counterparts, rural populations tend to be older, poorer, and sicker and have less access to employer-sponsored insurance plans. Consequently, a higher proportion of rural people are potentially eligible for Medicaid. Indeed, as of 2014, 22% of rural residents were enrolled in Medicaid while 20% were enrolled in Medicare, signifying that Medicaid has surpassed Medicare as the largest source of public health coverage in rural areas, and is second in coverage only to employer-sponsored insurance plans.