Health Care Access - Unable to Get Care Because of Cost
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Percentage of Adults Who Were Unable to Get Needed Medical Care Due to Cost by County, New Mexico, 2016-2020
Percentage of Adults Who Were Unable to Get Needed Medical Care Due to Cost by U.S. States, New Mexico, 2020
Why Is This Important?
Lack of health insurance coverage has been associated with increased risk of chronic disease and mortality. People who forgo needed health care services may be more likely to succumb to preventable illnesses and to suffer complications from those illnesses, and possibly be more likely to die prematurely.
Definition
The percentage of New Mexicans who are unable to get needed care because of cost at the time of the survey. Question text: Was there a time in the past 12 months when you needed to see a doctor but could not because of cost?
Data Sources
- Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Survey Data, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, together with New Mexico Department of Health, Injury and Behavioral Epidemiology Bureau.
(https://www.nmhealth.org/about/erd/ibeb/brfss/) - U.S. data source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Prevalence and Trends Data.
(https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence)
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | Number of persons in the survey sample who were in the given category (e.g., unable to get needed care because of cost or able to get care because of cost) at the time of the survey. |
| Denominator: | Total number of persons in the survey sample who responded to the question. |
How Are We Doing?
The percentage of adults who could not get health care due to cost decreased from 19.2% in 2011 to 13.8% 2017.
How Do We Compare With the U.S.?
The percentage of adults who could not get health care due to cost was higher in New Mexico than in the U.S. New Mexico ranked 34th among all states (Iowa ranked #1 with only 7.9% unable to get needed care, and Texas ranked #50 with 19.6%).
What Is Being Done?
New Mexico has benefited from the Affordable Care Act and our state's use of federal Medicaid incentives to get more New Mexicans covered by health insurance.
Available Services
The New Mexico Health Insurance Exchange, BeWellNM, is the official New Mexico State marketplace for health insurance under Obamacare. You can use BeWellNM to apply for cost-assistance, compare prices of plans, change plans, and enroll in a plan that best suits you, your family, or your small business. Visit the [http://www.bewellnm.com/ BeWellNM] website for more information.