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Health Care Access

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Access to health care refers to the ease with which an individual can obtain needed medical services. RAND research has examined the social, cultural, economic, and geographic factors that influence health care access worldwide; the effects of changes in access; and the relationship between access and health for specific U.S. populations—including racial and ethnic minorities, people with limited English proficiency, the uninsured, the elderly, children, and veterans.

Commentary
A Potential Backslide in Mental Health Care for Millions of Americans
The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration expires shortly. When it does, it will have broad-sweeping effects, and one of the most significant is little known: It could begin undoing the expansion of mental health care access for millions of Americans.
Apr 18, 2023
Research Brief
How Does Telehealth Affect Health Care Quality, Access, Equity, and Costs?
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, health care providers pivoted to telehealth out of necessity. As policymakers look beyond the pandemic, concerns about telehealth's effects on health care spending and quality persist.
May 11, 2023

Explore Health Care Access

News Release
Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Rises After Medicare Expands Coverage for Methadone
The use of methadone among Medicare beneficiaries to treat opioid use disorder increased sharply after the program began covering the drug, with evidence suggesting the change created new treatment rather than displacing use of other medications.
May 19, 2023
Blog
Extremism, Medicaid, Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' Law: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on addressing domestic extremism, managing reductions in Medicaid enrollment, the effects of Florida's “Don't Say Gay” law, and more.
May 19, 2023
Commentary
Can the Health Insurance System Handle Massive Medicaid Reductions?
For many who have or will soon lose Medicaid as monthly redeterminations restart, and for millions more who could lose insurance due to other factors like job loss, three recent policy developments might increase the chances that they find new health care coverage.
May 12, 2023
Journal Article
Barriers and Facilitators to Home- and Community-Based Services Access for Persons With Dementia and Their Caregivers
Barriers to HCBS access for persons with dementia range from community and infrastructure barriers (e.g., clinicians and cultural differences), to interpersonal and individual-level barriers (e.g., caregivers, awareness, and attitudes).
May 4, 2023
Journal Article
The Health Plan Environment in California Contributed to Differential Use of Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Examining the patient and health plan differences in use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study highlights the role of health plan and provider differences in driving disparities in access to telehealth services.
May 4, 2023
Essay
Mental Health First Aid: Training People to Help Others
An innovative program trains and empowers people to not look away from those experiencing mental illness, but to listen to them, reassure them, and encourage them to get help. Most trainees of the program in New York City were still using what they had learned five years later.
May 3, 2023
Journal Article
Changes in In-Person, Audio-Only, and Video Visits in California's Federally Qualified Health Centers, 2019-2022
The decline in audio-only visits from the early pandemic peak appears to coincide with the return of in-person visits rather than growth in video visits.
Apr 25, 2023
News Release
Audio-Only Telehealth Remains Common At Many Safety Net Clinics
In August 2022, more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, audio-only telehealth visits still accounted for 1 in 5 primary care visits and 2 in 5 mental health care visits at safety net clinics in California.
Apr 11, 2023
Journal Article
Design of CLARO (Collaboration Leading to Addiction Treatment and Recovery from Other Stresses): A Randomized Trial of Collaborative Care for Opioid Use Disorder and Co-Occurring Depression And/Or Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
This article describes the CLARO collaborative care for co-occurring disorders intervention and clinical trial.
Mar 10, 2023
Report
A Needs Assessment of Women Veterans in Western Pennsylvania: Final Report to Adagio Health
To identify opportunities to expand and enhance Adagio Health's efforts to support women veterans' health and wellness, the authors quantitatively and qualitatively assessed the needs of women veterans in the Adagio Health service area.
Mar 8, 2023
Research Brief
Opportunities to Improve Support for Western Pennsylvania’s Women Veterans
Despite their growing numbers, women who have served in the U.S. military continue to encounter challenges accessing the services and support they need. What national and local programs, services, and supports for veterans are available to meet those needs?
Mar 8, 2023
Journal Article
State Approaches to Tackling the Opioid Crisis Through the Health Care System
In this paper, policy experts discuss three broad strategies states are taking, through a variety of policy levers, to enhance the quality of and access to treatment for opioid use disorder.
Feb 8, 2023
Report
The Benefits of Mental Health First Aid Training
More than 155,000 New Yorkers were trained in Mental Health First Aid between 2016 and 2020. They learned how to be active listeners, to provide reassurance and information, and to encourage professional care when appropriate. Most of the trainees ended up using their MHFA skills to support others and their own well-being.
Feb 7, 2023
Research Brief
Large-Scale Training in Mental Health First Aid: An Evaluation of New York City's 2016–2020 Efforts
In an evaluation of a city-wide effort to train New Yorkers in Mental Health First Aid, RAND researchers found that the majority of participants had used their skills to help friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers in the past six months.
Feb 7, 2023
Journal Article
Barriers to Using Clinical Decision Support in Ambulatory Care: Do Clinics in Health Systems Fare Better?
We quantify the use of clinical decision support (CDS) and the specific barriers reported by ambulatory clinics and examine whether CDS utilization and barriers differed based on clinics' affiliation with health systems.
Jan 27, 2023
Journal Article
Patterns in Geographic Distribution of Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facilities in the US and Accepted Forms of Payment From 2010 to 2021
Researchers analyzed data to determine what proportion of the national population had local geographic availability to a licensed SUD treatment facility that accepted Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, or cash.
Jan 25, 2023
Journal Article
Access to After-Hours Primary Care: A Key Determinant of Children's Medical Home Status
Accessibility, especially the ability to access health care after regular office hours, appears to be the major predictor of having a medical home among Latino children.
Jan 24, 2023
Commentary
Gender Biases in Health Care: Listen to Women About Their Own Health
More and more information, evidence, and personal stories are emerging suggesting women are not being listened to or believed by health care professionals about their symptoms of physical illness. There is ongoing work in the United Kingdom to improve and integrate women's health services, which creates hope for improvements.
Jan 19, 2023

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RAND Topic:
Health Care Access

Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Priya Gandhi

Assistant Policy Researcher, RAND

Priya Samir Gandhi (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in the Community-Partnered Policy and Action stream at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy researcher at the RAND Corporation. Her research interests include health and racial equity, the social determinants of health, health…
Michael Stephen Dunbar

Behavioral Scientist

Michael Dunbar (he/him) is a behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. His research examines the ways in which situational factors and policy environments influence patterns of health behaviors, like nicotine and tobacco use, as well as health service utilization. Dunbar's work employs a…

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