BEYOND THE UNINSURED - PROBLEMS IN ACCESS TO CARE

This paper investigates the difficulties that people encounter in thei r attempt to obtain needed health services, other than their third-par ty coverage or lack of it. These problems can be temporal, geographic, attitudinal, or financial (even with insurance). A state-wide sample survey conducted in 1989 revealed that about 17% of Michigan's populat ion experienced one or more of these kinds of difficulties in their at tempts to receive medical care. Those at greater risk included persons with public insurance coverage (mostly Medicaid), persons with low in comes, persons in poor health, women, and members of some ethnic minor ity groups. The findings suggest that addressing the problem of access to care through an exclusive focus on the uninsured, especially throu gh public programs, could leave significant residual problems for seve ral segments in American society.