Title: |
|
Stability and Change in Health Insurance Status: New Estimates from the 1996 MEPS |
Publication date (print version): |
|
December 2001 |
Description: |
|
Initiatives to expand health insurance coverage have focused not only on the size of the uninsured population but also on the stability and continuity of coverage. This report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) describes the health insurance experience of the U.S. population during 1996, using data from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). It provides alternative estimates of the uninsured population and the prevalence of full-year and part-year coverage. It also examines the extent to which people insured at the beginning of a calendar year become uninsured and the likelihood that those uninsured at the beginning of the year will acquire coverage. The findings point to the importance of public insurance as a means through which many disadvantaged Americans acquire coverage but also reveal that public coverage is less stable than private health insurance. Only a small proportion of people uninsured at the beginning of 1996 acquired health insurance during the year. |
Author(s): |
|
Alan C. Monheit, Jessica P.Vistnes, Samuel H. Zuvekas |
Agency: |
|
Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality |
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