The ability to obtain health care. Access includes available physicians and facilities, transportation, acceptance by the facility, and means of payment. “Access” is often used specifically to mean eligibility for (access to) insurance benefits, since lack of insurance can be a formidable barrier to receiving health care. Individuals who are above a given state’s definition of the poverty level for qualification for Medicaid are said to be denied access. In 1990, for example, when the federal poverty threshold was $13,356, access was very different in a state which had its Medicaid threshold at $3,000 (family income above this amount disqualifies the family for Medicaid) than in a state where the threshold was $10,000. Thus an unemployed or employed low income person who cannot be insured through an employer might not qualify for public assistance, either.