BIO

Hi, I'm Owen. I am a freshman from Milwaukee, WI, majoring in finance and accounting.

Accessibility to Healthcare: Perceived Barriers by Financial Status

Abstract

Almost 20% of adults in the United States are impacted by barriers preventing them from accessing sufficient and affordable healthcare-these consequences are estimated to surpass a cost of $230 billion on an annual basis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). A theory developed by Penchansky and Thomas suggests that this access is reliant on five different dimensions: affordability, accommodation, availability, accessibility, and acceptability (Penchansky/Thomas, 1981). Non-financial obstacles to healthcare (the 4 groups, excluding affordability) have been previously shown to exhibit high prevalence rates, even among those with insurance (Allen, 2017). These barriers are reported to disproportionately affect individuals who also experience financial barriers (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2018).
The study collected data from 269 participants in both urban and rural low socioeconomic settings. REDCap software was used to collect and manage survey data related to patient demographics and healthcare access. The study identifies four different groups in relation to the poverty line for the given area. Group 1 are households in the 0-100% threshold, group 2 being the 100-200%, etc. These different groups were then studied to identify the most significant differences in relation to what barriers they faced while attempting to access healthcare. The findings indicated that cost (p<.001 R=3.7) and transportation (p=.002 R=4.2) were the only statistically significant barriers. However, a key finding is that while distance was not found to be statistically significant among the groups, transportation was. These types of conversations can be had to facilitate better access to healthcare for everyone.

Keywords: Healthcare Finance Access