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Article
Access to Care Among Vulnerable Populations Enrolled in Commercial HMOs
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
  • Matthew J. Carlson, Portland State University
  • Jan Blustein, New York University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2003
Subjects
  • Health services accessibility,
  • Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study (U.S.)
Disciplines
Abstract

Abstract: This cross-sectional study compares self-reported access to care among a representative sample of 13,952 HMO enrollees in New Jersey. Using multivariate logistic regression, this study found that compared with college graduates, those with less than a high school education reported more difficulty obtaining tests or treatment. Compared with whites, Hispanics were more likely to report difficulty seeing their primary care provider, and African Americans reported greater difficulty seeing a specialist and obtaining tests and treatment. Enrollees in poor health were more likely to report problems seeing a specialist and obtaining tests and treatment than enrollees in excellent health. Income was not a consistent predictor of access. Nonfinancial barriers appear to be more influential than financial barriers for predicting access problems in commercial HMOs. More work is needed to identify the source of nonfinancial barriers to care among vulnerable populations.

Description

This is the publisher's final PDF. Copyright © 2003 The Johns Hopkins University Press. This article first appeared in Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Vol. 14, No. 3, 2003.

DOI
10.1353/hpu.2010.0635
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/12321
Citation Information
Carlson MJ, Blustein J. Access to care among vulnerable populations enrolled in commercial HMOs. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 2003;14(3):372-385.