Dear Colleague:
A Commonwealth Fund-supported study published in the new issue of Health Affairs finds that 85 million Americans had no health insurance at some point between 1996 and 1999–more than double the number uninsured at any one point or in any one year during this period. That’s also nearly double the 43.6 million Americans recently estimated by the Census Bureau to have been without coverage in 2002.
According to “Battery-Powered Health Insurance? Stability in Coverage of the Uninsured,” nearly two of five (38%) Americans under age 65, and more than two-thirds (68%) of those with low incomes, lacked health coverage at some point within the study timeframe. The article, together with a companion Fund Issue Brief, reveals that this larger figure is a result of “churning,” the process by which millions of people cycle on and off coverage.
Minorities were at high risk for experiencing gaps in coverage and having an extensive time without insurance. Half (50%) of African Americans and three of five (61%) Hispanics were uninsured during the 1996-99 period. Among those with low incomes, Hispanics stood out for high rates uninsured and for the number of months uninsured. Young adults were also at high risk, with over half uninsured during this time.
You can read the full text of the article on the Health Affairs site.
Related Commonwealth Fund publications include:
Staying Covered: The Importance of Retaining Health Insurance for Low-Income Families. Leighton Ku and Donna Cohen Ross. December 2002.
Building Quality into RIte Care: How Rhode Island Is Improving Health Care for Its Low-Income Populations. Sharon Silow-Carroll. January 2003.
Rethinking Recertification: Keeping Eligible Individuals Enrolled in New York’s Public Health Insurance Programs. Karen Lipson, Eliot Fishman, Patricia Boozang, Deborah Bachrach. August 2003.
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