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Peter J. Cunningham

 
 

Peter Kemper

 
     
 
 

Managed Care and Physicians' Provision of Charity Care

March 24-31, 1999
Journal of the American Medical Association
 
 

Pressures on the Health Care Safety Net:

April 1999
Health Services Research
 
 

Ability to Obtain Medical Care for the Uninsured

September 9, 1998
Journal of the American Medical Association
 
 

A Changing Picture of Uncompensated Care

July/August 1997
Health Affairs
 
 

Staying in the Game:

March 1999
Research Report No. 03
 
     

Ability to Obtain Medical Care for the Uninsured

September 9, 1998
Journal of the American Medical Association, vol.280, no.10 (September 9, 1998): 921-927
Peter J. Cunningham, Peter Kemper

ecause communities differ in the way medical care for the indigent is organized and delivered, there are likely to be differences in the ability of the uninsured to obtain medical care. The authors analyzed the 1996-1997 Community Tracking Study Household Survey, which included a random sample of 60 communities nationwide. The survey represented 60,446 individuals in these communities, of whom 7,200 were uninsured. Results of the analysis showed a twofold difference across communities in the ability of the uninsured to obtain medical care, indicating that place of residence is an important determinant in access to care. Most of the difference in access remained even when controlling for health status and other individual characteristics. Despite these differences, additional analysis showed that expanding insurance would do more to improve access for the uninsured across all communities, compared to expanding the direct delivery of services. Place of residence is likely to remain an important factor because provision of medical care for the uninsured is driven largely by state and local policy.

Free access to this article is available at the Journal of the American Medical Association Web site.

 

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The Center for Studying Health System Change Ceased operation on Dec. 31, 2013.