Higher US Rural Mortality Rates Linked To Socioeconomic Status, Physician Shortages, And Lack Of Health Insurance.

All-cause mortality rates in rural areas have exceeded those in urban areas of the US since the 1980s, and the gap continues to widen. Yet no definitive causes of this difference are known, and within-state differences that might be amenable to state-level policy have not been explored. An analysis of 2016 state-level data indicated that rural mortality exceeded urban mortality in all but three states, with substantial variability in both rates across states.

Improving Health in Hard-to-Reach Communities.

The health impact pyramid offers a framework for considering the relative significance of socioeconomic determinants of health and for prioritizing interventions that may be effective in improving health outcomes in hard-to-reach and rural populations. Barriers to health care delivery in rural settings are outlined with examples provided. Demonstration projects in East and West Texas are reviewed.

The Health Insurance Gap After Implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Texas.

Households with incomes between 18% and 99% of the federal poverty level (FPL) are ineligible for Medicaid or enrollment in the health insurance exchange marketplace in Texas, resulting in the health insurance gap. We sought to determine the number of non-elderly adult Texans (NEATs) aged between 18 and 64 years in the insurance gap in rural vs urban areas in East Texas, West Texas, and South Texas. Data were obtained from the US Census Bureau website.

Enrollment in Health Insurance Through the Marketplace After Implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Texas.

One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act aims to provide affordable health insurance through the health insurance exchange marketplace (the Marketplace). This study explores enrollments in the Marketplace in Texas and in rural vs urban areas in the East, South, and West regions of the state. Data are derived from the US Census Bureau and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Socioeconomic deprivation as a determinant of cancer mortality and the Hispanic paradox in Texas, USA.

Introduction: We have recently reported that delayed cancer detection is associated with the Wellbeing Index (WI) for socioeconomic deprivation, lack of health insurance, physician shortage, and Hispanic ethnicity. The current study investigates whether these factors are determinants of cancer mortality in Texas, the United States of America (USA).

Methods: Data for breast, colorectal, female genital system, lung, prostate, and all-type cancers are obtained from the Texas Cancer Registry.

Determinants of delayed detection of cancers in Texas counties in the United States of America.

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that delayed detection of several cancers is related to socioeconomic deprivation as measured by the Wellbeing Index (WI) in Texas, the United States of America (USA). The current study investigates whether delayed cancer detection is related to lack of health insurance, physician shortage and higher percentages of Hispanics rather than WI per se since these factors are directly related to delayed cancer detection and may confound WI.

Methods: Cancer data and potential determinants of delayed cancer detection are derived from Texas Cancer Registry, Texas State Data Center, and Texas Department of State Health Services and U.

Correlation of the ratio of metastatic to non-metastatic cancer cases with the degree of socioeconomic deprivation among Texas counties.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that cancer registrations and hospital discharge rate are closely correlated with census data-based socioeconomic deprivation indices. We hypothesized that communities with higher degrees of socioeconomic deprivation tend to have a higher ratio of metastatic to non-metastatic cancer cases (lung, breast, prostate, female genital system, colorectal cancers or all types of cancers combined). In this study, we investigate the potential link between this ratio and the Wellbeing Index (WI) among Texas counties.