UnitedHealthcare focus groups: Medicaid and health care access in rural Southeast Missouri

Anybody can have trouble understanding healthcare and health insurance. We wanted to better understand the problems people face when they need care, especially people with Medicaid in rural areas. So we partnered with UnitedHealthcare to speak with people from four communities in southeast Missouri.

We held focus groups with people who had Medicaid, uninsured people, and healthcare providers to listen to them and learn about their experiences. The findings showed that many people are experiencing the same problems when it comes to getting and using healthcare in their communities. We shared these results with UnitedHealthcare and other organizations so they can work to make healthcare more clear and accessible, control costs, and help people with Medicaid use the health care services covered by their plans.

Goals

We wanted to know more about people’s experiences with Medicaid and healthcare, so we set out to conduct 12 focus groups across four communities with:

• People with Medicaid

• Uninsured people

• Healthcare providers

Accomplishments

We gathered ideas and feedback from 67 people about their experiences with:

• Applying for Medicaid

• Paying for services with and without Medicaid

• The coverage they get with Medicaid

Using Medicaid to get healthcare services

Partners

UnitedHealthcare