Long-Term Uninsured in America, 2002 to 2003: Estimates for the U.S. Population under Age 65. Statistical Brief Number 104

摘要

Estimates of the health insurance status of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population are critical to policymakers and others concerned with access to medical care and the cost and quality of that care. Health insurance helps people get timely access to medical care and protects them against the risk of expensive and unanticipated medical events. When estimating the size of the uninsured population, it is important to consider the distinction between those uninsured for short periods of time and those long-term uninsured (defined for the purposes of this report as those uninsured for at least two years). Using data from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-HC) for 2002 and 2003, this report provides estimates of the proportion of the civilian noninstitutionalized non-elderly (under age 65) population that was uninsured for up to two years, 2002 to 2003, and identifies groups especially at risk of lacking health insurance. All differences between estimates discussed in the text are statistically significant at the 0.05 level unless otherwise noted. Findings. According to the MEPS-HC for 2002 and 2003, 31.6 percent (79.6 million people, estimate not shown) of the under-65 population were uninsured for at least one month during the two-year period including calendar year 2002 and 2003. Of the total population under age 65, 9.6 percent (24.2 million people, estimate not shown) were uninsured for the entire two-year period (figure 1).