MCBS Health Characteristics of Medicare Beneficiaries Living in the Community by Metropolitan Residence Status Infographic

Highlights:  

• In 2021, beneficiaries living in non-metropolitan areas had longer travel times to their primary care provider and less access to telemedicine compared with beneficiaries living in metropolitan areas.
• Beneficiaries living in non-metropolitan areas had higher prevalence of chronic pain (81 percent) compared with beneficiaries living in metropolitan areas (73 percent).
• In 2021, beneficiaries living in non-metropolitan areas also had lower use of physical or occupational therapy to manage their pain (13 percent used physical or occupational therapy compared with 18 percent of beneficiaries living in metropolitan areas).
• For additional information, see the MCBS Socio-demographic and Health Characteristics of Medicare Beneficiaries Living in the Community by Metropolitan Residence Status PUF 2021.