National Medical Expenditure Survey. Usual Sources of Medical Care and Their Characteristics. Research Findings 11

摘要

The report presents selected estimates of the usual sources of medical care for the noninstitutionalized population of the United States by selected demographic characteristics. Data from the National Medical Expenditure Survey for calendar year 1987 indicate that about 191 million Americans had a usual source of care. For about 86 percent of the group, the source was a physician's office. The 44.3 million Americans without a usual source of care in 1987 included a relatively large number of the uninsured, the poor and near poor, and blacks and Hispanics. Over 75 percent of those without a usual source of care reported that they seldom or never got sick as their reason for lacking a usual source of care.