Health Insurance and Coverage

This topic page provides a brief overview of the Center for Rural Health’s activities relating to Health Insurance and Coverage. This page contains a list of projects, key staff, and information pulled from the publications, presentations, events, news, and maps section of the CRH web site.

Projects

• Health Insurance Survey of Farm and Ranch Operators -- A health care survey of farm and ranch families in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
• North Dakota State Planning Grant -- Assesses the problem of health uninsurance in North Dakota and develop policy options for increasing access to health insurance.
• Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center -- Undertakes national projects focusing on quality of rural health care and other important rural health issues.

Staff

• Muus, Kyle

Presentations

• Research Priorities for Indian Health Service
  Presented by Cobb, Capt. Nathaniel on Apr 6, 2006 at the American Indian Research Forum, Grand Forks, ND.
• Which Factors Increase the Likelihood of Being Uninsured in a Rural State? Identifying Opportunities to Reduce Disparities
  Presented by Cogan, M., Knudson, A., & Muus, K. on Jun 27, 2005 at the Annual AcademyHealth Research Conference, Boston, MA.
• Medicare Update
  Presented by Wakefield, M.K. on May 19, 2005 at the National Rural Health Association's Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.
• Who Are North Dakota's Uninsured?
  Presented by Knudson, A., Muus, K., Cogan, M., Kruger, G., Baird, J., & Apostal, K. on May 19, 2005 at the National Rural Health Association's Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.
• Health Insurance Access in North Dakota
  Presented by Cogan, M., Knudson, A., Baird, J., Muus, K., & Kruger, G. on Mar 8, 2005 at the Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health, Bismarck, ND.
• Focus Groups with North Dakota's Uninsured
  Presented by Kruger, G. on Feb 2, 2005 at the Governor's Health Insurance Advisory Commission, via IVN in Grand Forks, ND.
• North Dakota's Uninsured Children and Families
  Presented by Knudson, A., Muus, K., Cogan, M., & Kruger, G. on Aug 12, 2004 at the Governor's Health Insurance Advisory Commission meeting, Grand Forks, ND.
• Uninsured Adults in North Dakota
  Presented by Knudson, A., Muus, K., Cogan, M., & Kruger, G. on Aug 12, 2004 at the Governor's Health Insurance Advisory Commission meeting, Grand Forks, ND.
• Health Insurance Coverage Among North Dakotans
  Presented by Knudson, A., Muus, K., Cogan, M., & Kruger, G. on Jul 28, 2004 at the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Board of Directors meeting, Fargo, ND.
• Focus Groups with North Dakota Employers
  Presented by Kruger, G. on Jun 22, 2004 at the Governor's Health Insurance Advisory Commission, Bismarck, ND.
• Focus Groups of North Dakota Residents
  Presented by Kruger, G. on Feb 12, 2004 at the Governor's Health Insurance Advisory Commission, Fargo, ND.

Publications

• Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance in North Dakota, Muus, K., Fall, 2006
  Employer-sponsored health insurance for employees is one of the primary sources of health insurance coverage in the United States. In 2004, approximately 159 million Americans, 62 percent of the nonelderly population, were insured through employers.
• Guest Commentaries Weigh in on Health Care Reform, Gibbens, B., August, 2009
  Brad Gibbens, Interim Co-Director, had a commentary on the implications of health reform on rural North Dakota printed in the North Dakota Farmers Union magazine. The commentary looks at critical rural health issues such as health workforce, rural facility survivability, and the need for flexibility and innovation in rural health.
• Health Care Access in North Dakota: Characteristics of the Uninsured, Knudson, A., Winter, 2005
  The lack of health insurance poses a great risk to the well being of North Dakotans and economic viability of the state. Uninsured children and adults do not receive the health care they need; they suffer from poorer health; and are more likely to die earlier than those with coverage.
• Healthcare Needs of North Dakota American Indian Veterans, Baker-Demaray, T., McDonald, L., Ludtke, R., March 31, 2008
  The final report on the Healthcare Needs of North Dakota American Indian Veterans project funded by the Otto Bremer Foundation is now available. This project conducted a statewide assessment of health status, healthcare access, and health risk of AI veterans residing on North Dakota’s reservations. The purpose for the project is to inform tribal and state health policymakers of the needs of AI veterans and provide valuable information for tribal and state planning efforts to assist with the development of community plans of action and infrastructure, and assist in decreasing jurisdictional confusion between the Indian Health Service and Veteran’s administration.
• How Farmers and Ranchers Get Health Insurance and What They Spend for Health Care, Pryor, C., Prottas, J., Lottero, B., Rukavina, M., & Knudson, A., Issue Brief No. 2, December, 2007
  “How Farmers and Ranchers Get Health Insurance and What They Spend for Health Care,” is the second in a series of issue briefs based on a survey of farm and ranch operators in seven Great Plains states. The report examines how farm and ranch operators get health insurance coverage and the amount of their overall healthcare costs including insurance premiums and money spent out-of-pocket for medical services, treatments, products or prescription drugs. It highlights the inadequacies of relying on the private, non-group market to provide affordable, comprehensive insurance coverage to farm and ranch operators.
• The Indian Health Care Improvement Act: Implications for North Dakota Tribes, McDonald, F., November, 2004
  
• North Dakota Health Insurance Study State Planning Grant Initiative, Baird, J.R., Cogan, M., Knudson, A., Kruger, G., & Muus, K., September, 2006
  Final report including activities in the third year of funding.
• North Dakota's Uninsured and Uncompensated Care: Costs and Coverage Options, Kruger, G., November, 2004