CONTEXT Given the large and increasing number of uninsured US individuals, identifying the health consequences of being uninsured has assumed increased importance. OBJECTIVE To compare medical care use and short-term health changes among US uninsured individuals and insured nonelderly individuals following a health shock caused by either an unintentional injury or the onset of a chronic condi...

BACKGROUND Because children uninsured for less than a full year are often reported as insured, they receive less attention in health policy debates than do the full-year uninsured and are underrecognized as potential users of public insurance programs. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study is to assess the impact on estimates of how many US children are uninsured when alternatives to the full-y...

Uninsured individuals receive fewer health care services for at least three reasons: higher prices, responsibility for the entire bill, and potential provider reductions for concern of nonpayment. This study isolates differences in service levels between insured and uninsured individuals that are attributed to different effective prices; the uninsured pay the bill without a contribution from an...

The number of persons without health insurance is increasing. Although research has focused on the uninsured poor and the duration of spells without health insurance, less attention has been paid to the dynamics of spells without health insurance among those in poverty. Here it is shown that the typical uninsured spell is longer for the uninsured poor (roughly 8.3 months) than for the uninsured...

Many U.S. military veterans lack health insurance and are ineligible for care in Veterans Administration health care facilities. Using two recently released national government surveys--the 2004 Current Population Survey and the 2002 National Health Interview Survey--the authors examined how many veterans are uninsured (lacking health insurance coverage and not receiving care from the VA) and w...

This article addresses the effect of hospital ownership on the delivery of service to uninsured patients. It compares the volume of uninsured patients treated in for-profit and nonprofit hospitals by regarding hospital ownership and service as endogenous. Instrumental variable estimates are used to predict the percentage of patients who are uninsured, controlling for hospital ownership and serv...

Background. Because children uninsured for less than a full year are often reported as insured, they receive less attention in health policy debates than do the full-year uninsured and are underrecognized as potential users of public insurance programs. Objective. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact on estimates of how many US children are uninsured when alternatives to the full-y...