The national profile of access to medical care: where do we stand?

TLDR

The study analyzes recent national survey data to assess access to medical care across the United States. It compares 1982 national telephone survey data from 6,610 adults and children with earlier surveys, examining key subgroups by age, residence, income, race, insurance, and regular source of care. While overall progress has been made, significant inequities remain, with disadvantaged groups still lagging behind in having a regular doctor, insurance, and preventive care, and facing heightened financial barriers due to unemployment, inflation, and program cutbacks.

Abstract

This paper presents analyses of recent national survey data on access to medical care. In particular, information on major access indicators and special problems associated with the economic and political climate of the 1980s collected in a 1982 national telephone survey of 6,610 United States adults and children, representing some 4,802 families, is compared with previous national surveys for key population subgroups--by age, place of residence, income, race, insurance coverage, and type of regular source of care. In general, the findings show that favorable progress has been made, but some inequities continue to persist. Some traditionally disadvantaged groups are more likely to have a regular family doctor, private insurance coverage, have been to a doctor, or had certain preventive tests and procedures than was true for them in the past. On the other hand, compared to the more economically and/or socially advantaged groups in 1982, they have still not "caught up" entirely. There also is evidence that they may be hardest hit by the exacerbation of the financial barriers to care that result from unemployment, inflation, and cutbacks in health program eligibility and benefits that have characterized the decade of the 1980s.