Blue Cross addresses healthcare challenges in underserved rural areas

Employees who live in rural areas often struggle to find quality healthcare, face longer travel times, and spend more of the family budget on healthcare compared to those in urban settings.^1,2,3

Rural Minnesota residents travel two to six times farther to seek medical care, resulting in 10% fewer patients getting preventive exams and tests.¹ The lack of primary and preventive care leads to higher use of the emergency room, raising overall healthcare costs. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (Blue Cross) estimates that $132 million per year in emergency room costs could be prevented through care received in other settings.²

Distance and access are not the only barriers to care in rural communities – affordability is a top concern. On average, our rural members have 33% less income, therefore healthcare premiums consume a higher share of wallet compared to urban counterparts.³

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota serves employers and members in all 87 Minnesota counties, and people in rural areas make up over half of our membership.⁴ Geography should not be a barrier to better health, and through partnership with providers, we are committed to addressing these disparities.

Blue Cross is taking a data-driven approach to understand the unique needs of rural communities by region and county, and sharing those insights with rural providers to collaborate on solutions. As part of that effort, Blue Cross formed a rural healthcare steering team and conducted a listening tour in rural Minnesota communities. These meetings featured discussion and sharing of ideas among local employers, providers, healthcare leaders and rural health experts.

Rural health initiatives driven by community need: Virtual and behavioral healthcare

Virtual options are one way to increase access to care in rural areas. Doctor On Demand^® enables Blue Cross members in all geographies to schedule virtual doctor visits. The program is especially important to rural members who don’t live close to a clinic. Members can connect to a virtual visit from anywhere – home, work or a private area in a library or community space. The online doctor can provide an assessment, diagnosis and treatment – and prescribe medications and order lab tests – during a virtual visit.

Behavioral healthcare is increasingly a top priority in rural communities and Blue Cross is hard at work to develop programs that improve access for all members. Behavioral health is estimated to drive 57% of total healthcare costs,⁵ so enabling members to get the care they need is crucial in lowering the total cost of care. To improve access for all members, Blue Cross has expanded its national behavioral health network by 55% since 2019.⁶

A key focus for behavioral health is expanded virtual treatment options for youth, whose behavioral health needs have doubled since 2011.⁷ Blue Cross’ goal is that youth with urgent behavioral health needs get care within 48 hours. Recently expanded online options can provide care faster than traditional treatment and help fill a major gap in the behavioral health continuum of care. With virtual intermediate care models, treatment can be provided in the comfort of home, rather than an expensive hospital setting.⁷

Additional virtual treatment programs will be available for specialty conditions, like eating disorders and substance use, providing alternatives to expensive (and often distant) residential programs. Members and their dependents can receive care at home while attending school or staying on the job.^6,8

Partnerships enable access to affordable care

As part of the Blue Cross commitment to eliminate rural access disparities, the Odam Medical Group Mobile Clinic program launched in 2022 to bring healthcare to medically underserved communities in rural Minnesota. Odam mobile clinics provide a broad range of primary care services, including well-child assessments and screenings, pregnancy testing, prenatal and post-partum care, vaccines, diabetes testing and weight management. By bringing care to these communities, Odam enables members to get care at their convenience, reducing barriers such as transportation, work schedules and childcare.

Another important milestone in our rural outreach is the Rural Behavioral Health Clinic, located at Minnesota State University, made possible by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, set to open in 2025.

Blue Cross and the clinic are working together to expand access to face-to-face and virtual behavioral healthcare services and programs such as peer specialists, community education and screening events. In addition to serving as a community-based outpatient mental health center, the clinic will act as an academic training center to educate the next generation of clinicians who will meet the access needs of individuals in the future. This is the first training clinic of its kind. With this partnership, Blue Cross is proud to continue to our commitment to high-quality, affordable access to care in rural communities.

Future initiatives

As healthcare faces disruption across rural America, Blue Cross is ensuring members retain the healthcare services they rely on. In rural communities, retail pharmacies are closing at an alarming rate, and many areas now are considered "pharmacy deserts." As local pharmacies close, more members lack access to their medications, with disproportionate consequences for rural communities.⁹ To fill this widening gap, Blue Cross is offering members mail-order pharmacy to conveniently fill prescriptions from home.

Blue Cross is committed to affordable care for rural communities

Blue Cross programs and partnerships aim to address the unique challenges of rural healthcare, improve member access, employee engagement and satisfaction – resulting in better health while controlling costs, paving the way for everyone to achieve their healthiest life.

Contact your Blue Cross representative for more information on rural healthcare and other initiatives.