Comparing Federal Government Surveys that Count Uninsured People in America: 2008

Publication Date:

Publisher: State Health Access Data Assistance Center

Author(s): University of Minnesota State Health Access Data Assistance Center

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

The number of uninsured Americans is large and growing over time, yet there continues to be debate about exactly how many Americans are uninsured. Researchers use data from several different national surveys to estimate the number of uninsured people in America and discrepancies in their estimates are common.
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This report compares estimates of health insurance coverage from three national surveys sponsored by the federal government and identifies the differences in their estimates of uninsurance:
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* differences in the time or reference period covered by the survey
* misreporting by survey respondents and underreporting of Medicaid enrollment
* differences in handling missing data
* differences in data editing.
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The report identifies two common themes from all surveys:
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* all the surveys report very large numbers of Americans living without health insurance
* all surveys show that these numbers have risen over time.