Numerous reports have documented the problems of adequate insurance coverage. Among them, a 2004 report of the Center for Rural Affairs entitled Health Care in Rural America outlines the parameters of the problem for rural citizens. This report continues the discussion by examining some recent research that delves into the causes and consequences of inadequate health care financing in rural areas.

BACKGROUND Underinsured children are covered by private health insurance that does not cover the cost of vaccines, are not entitled to receive publicly purchased vaccines at no cost through the Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program unless they receive doses at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or a Rural Health Center (RHC), may be referred by their primary care providers to health depar...

Health care in rural America presents challenges that states are addressing in a variety of ways. Many rural communities lack adequate access to primary and preventive services. More than three-quarters of the nation’s rural counties are designated as health professional shortage areas.1 In addition to the scarcity of primary care providers and services in rural areas, the people who live there...

This study investigates Tasmanian maternity health providers’ and rural women’s experiences and views of continuity of care in the public health system and the feasibility of this model is explored. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 women who had childbirth experiences in six rural areas in Tasmania in the past five years. In addition 20 multidisciplinary maternity health provid...

The aim of the Greek healthcare system is stated to be universal coverage and provision of equal services to all citizens 1 . This ambitious aim can hardly be said to have been realised. Primary healthcare in Greece remains poorly organised and highly fractured, as it is delivered by a variety of providers that differ in quantity, quality, effectiveness and efficiency of care provision. As a co...

OBJECTIVE More than half the world's population lives in rural areas; however, we have limited evidence about how to strengthen rural healthcare services. We sought to determine the impact of a systems-based approach to improving rural care, the Ethiopian Millennium Rural Initiative, on key healthcare services indicators. DESIGN We conducted an 18-month longitudinal mixed methods study of the...

Using data from 60 round of the National Sample Survey, this study attempts to measure the incidence and intensity of “catastrophic” maternal health care expenditure and examines its socio-economic correlates in urban and rural areas separately. Additionally, it measures the effect of maternal health care expenditure on poverty incidence and examines the factors associated with such impoverishm...

from 22 may 1976 to 19 february 1977 out of 27742 patients which were referred to health and social welfare network of west azerbaijan in chonqralu (field laboratory of school of public health and institute of public health research in health services development research project in iran), 22693 (81.81%) simple cases were managed by the behvarz (female front line health worker), in nine health ...

UNLABELLED In Jordan, despite being one of the most modern countries in the Middle East, postnatal care services are still under-utilized by rural Jordanian mothers. The purpose of this study is to explore, analyse and critique the postnatal cultural health beliefs, knowledge and practices of rural Jordanian mothers. DESIGN a critical ethnographic approach was used to critically investigate t...