For decades state legislators have called for mandatory insurance laws, some legislators arguing their view that drivers of uninsured vehicles are high risk and a public safety problem. In opposing such laws, however, insurers respond that drivers of uninsured cars closely resemble drivers of insured cars. Despite opposition by insurers, to date 48 states have adopted mandatory insurance. Since...

This Issue Brief reviews surveys that provide estimates of the uninsured population in the United States. It includes a discussion of why the estimates from the various surveys differ. It is important to understand the differences in the estimates of the uninsured population. The projected cost of implementing policy proposals depends on the estimates of the number of people affected by the pro...

OBJECTIVE This study examined the association between access to health care and three classifications of diabetes status: diagnosed, undiagnosed, and no diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using data from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we identified 110 "missed patients" (fasting plasma glucose >125 mg/dl but without diagnoses of diabetes), 704 patients with...

According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates, 45.7 million people in the United States are uninsured. This exceeds the number enrolled in Medicare (44.8 million) and approaches the number enrolled in Medicaid (58.7 million). After a combined total of 23 years in private practice, we decided to do something to help the growing number of uninsured patients in our own community. In 2004 we...

BACKGROUND Approximately 19% of non-elderly adults are without health insurance. The uninsured frequently lack a source of primary care and are more likely to use the emergency department (ED) for routine care. Improving access to primary care for the uninsured is one strategy to reduce ED overutilization and related costs. METHODS A comparison group quasi-experimental design was used to eval...

Control and Prevention (CDC). The results and views expressed are the independent products of university research in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Public Health and Child Health Specialty Clinics and do no necessarily represent the views of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the CDC or the University of Iowa. Executive Summary This report presents information about the health ins...

This Issue Brief provides summary data on the insured and uninsured populations in the nation and in each state. It discusses the characteristics most closely related to an individual's health insurance status. Based on EBRI estimates from the March 2001 Current Population Survey (CPS), it represents 2000 data--the most recent available. Between 1999 and 2000, the percentage of Americans with h...

The United States has made a large effort to expand health insurance coverage of low-income children through the Medicaid program. This has continued more recently with the Children's Health Insurance Program. Largely as a result of Medicaid, children are much less likely to be uninsured than adults. Three-quarters of the uninsured in the United States are adults, and 37 percent of adults with ...

This Issue Brief provides summary data on the insured and uninsured populations in the nation and in each state. It discusses the characteristics most closely related to an individual's health insurance status. Based on EBRI estimates from the March 2000 Current Population Survey (CPS), it represents 1999 data--the most recent available. In 1999, for the first time since at least 1987, the perc...

CONTEXT Uninsured near-elderly adults, particularly those with cardiovascular disease or diabetes, experience worse health outcomes than insured adults. However, the health benefits of providing insurance coverage for uninsured adults have not been clearly demonstrated. OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of acquiring Medicare coverage on the health of previously uninsured adults. DESIGN AND SET...