National Medical Expenditure Survey. Persons Denied Private Health Insurance Dueto Poor Health. Data Summary 4

摘要

The report provides estimates from the first quarter of 1987 of the number ofpersons less than 65 years of age who were denied private health insurance or limited in the coverage they could purchase because of their poor health. The data are from the Household Survey component of the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES), a nationally representative survey of the civilian noninstitutionalized population. Overall only a very small proportion of the uninsured population less than 65 years of age had ever been denied private health insurance because of their health. Even when those with public insurance in 1987 are included, NMES data show that about 1.6 million persons, or 0.7 percent of the entire population under age 65, had ever been denied private coverage for medical reasons. Only persons who lacked private coverage at the time of the round 1 household interview were asked if they had ever been denied health insurance or limited in the type they could obtain because of their health. Therefore, NMES household data do not permit estimates of the number of privately insured whose policies excluded preexisting conditions.