Health Insurance/Access to Care

Access to Health Care: Does Neighborhood Residential Instability Matter? J. Kirby, T. Kaneda, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 47: June 2006, 142-155. Focuses on the association between neighborhood residential instability and reduced access to health care. (AHRQ 06-R072)

Children's Eligibility and Coverage: A Look Ahead. J. Hudson, T. Selden, Health Affairs 26(5):2007, w618-w629. Tracks changes in children's public insurance eligibility and coverage using data from the 1996-2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. (AHRQ 07-R078)

Coverage for Mental Health Treatment: Do the Gaps Still Persist? S. Zuvekas, C. Meyerhoefer, Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics 9:2006, 123-131. Examines how effective mental health benefits, as measured by actual out-of-pocket expenses, compares to coverage for non-mental health treatment and how this has changed in recent years. (AHRQ 06-R058)

The Demand for Dependent Health Insurance: How Important is the Cost of Family Coverage? A. Monheit, J. Vistnes, Journal of Health Economics 24:2005, 1108-1131. Examines the role of out-of-pocket premiums and expanded Medicaid eligibility in households' demand for employment-based family coverage. (AHRQ 06-R024)

Demographic and Clinical Variations in Health Status. J. Fleishman, MEPS Methodology Report, 14: January 2005, 10 pp. Using nationally representative data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, summarizes population differences using two generic measures, the SF-12® and the EuroQol. (AHRQ 05-0022)

Health Insurance Coverage During a 24-Month Period: A Comparison of Estimates from Two National Health Surveys. S. Cohen, D. Makuc, T. Ezzati-Rice, Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology 7:2007, 125-144. Compares national estimates of health insurance coverage over generally comparable 24-month time periods using two integrated Federal health-related surveys, the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and the National Health Interview Survey. (AHRQ 08-R029)

Health Insurance: What Employers Are Reporting. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, MEPS Statistical Briefs, October 2006. Includes eight Statistical Briefs from the Insurance Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, fiscal year 2006. (AHRQ 07-RG004)

The Impact of Survey Attrition on Health Insurance Coverage Estimates in a National Longitudinal Health Care Survey. S. Cohen, T. Ezzati-Rice, W. Yu, Health Services and Outcomes Research Methodology 6:2006, 111-125. Summarizes the survey operations, informational materials, interviewer training and experience, and the refusal conversion techniques used in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to maintain respondent cooperation for five rounds of interviewing and to help minimize sample attrition. (AHRQ 07-R048)

Informed Participation in TennCare by People with Disabilities. S. Hill, J. Woolridge, Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 17: November 2006, 851-875, Uses survey results to examine informed health care choices by nonelderly people with diverse disabilities—including mental retardation, mental illness, visual and hearing impairments, and difficulty communicating—who were enrolled in TennCare, Tennessee's Medicaid managed care program. The survey was fielded between October 1998 and March 1999. (AHRQ 07-R045)

Neighborhood Socioeconomic Disadvantage and Access to Health Care. J. Kirby, T. Kaneda, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 46: March 2005, 15-31. Discusses the role of community-level factors in helping or hindering individuals in obtaining needed care by examining how neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage is associated with access to health care. (AHRQ 05-R051)

Parity for Whom? Exemptions and the Extent of State Mental Health Parity Legislation. T. Buchmueller, P. Cooper, M. Jacobson, et al., Health Affairs 26(4):2007, w483-w487. Summarizes the extent and scope of State parity legislation in terms of the number of insured private-sector employees covered. (AHRQ 07-R062)

Pathways to Coverage: The Changing Roles of Public and Private Sources. J. Vistnes, B. Schone, Health Affairs 27(1): January/February 2008, 44-57. Analyzes the growing trend of families' obtaining insurance in patchwork fashion from both private and public sources. (AHRQ 08-R033)

Rural-Urban Differences in Employment-Related Health Insurance. S. Larson, S. Hill, Journal of Rural Health 21(1): Winter 2005, 21-30. Compares nonelderly adult residents in three types of nonmetropolitan areas with metropolitan workers to evaluate which characteristics contribute to lack of employment-related insurance. Concludes that health insurance disparities associated with rural residence are related to employment factors including smaller employers, lower wages, greater prevalence of self-employment, and sociodemographic characteristics. (AHRQ 05-R026)

Serving the Uninsured: Safety-Net Hospitals, 2003. R. Andrews, D. Stull, I. Fraser, et al., HCUP Fact Book, No. 8, January 2007, 34 pp. Presents data on hospitals that treat a disproportionately large share of uninsured patients, including both financial status and structural and geographic characteristics of these "safety-net" hospitals as well as clinical characteristics of the patients they serve. (AHRQ 07-0006)

State Differences in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance, 2003. J. Branscome, B. Crimmel, MEPS Chartbook, No. 15, May 2006, 25 pp. Presents State estimates from the 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component. Examines workers' access to job-related health insurance and their enrollment rates, and examines State differences in the cost of that insurance, both to the employer offering coverage and to the worker taking coverage. (AHRQ 06-0030)

Statistics on Health Insurance: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, MEPS Statistical Briefs, October 2006. Includes six Statistical Briefs from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, fiscal year 2006. (AHRQ 07-RG002)

Tax Subsidies for Employment-Related Health Insurance: Estimates for 2006. T. Selden, B. Gray, Health Affairs 25(6): November/December 2006, 1568-1579. Presents tax-subsidy projections from a new data resource constructed using a statistical linkage between the establishment and household components of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. Presents per worker tax-subsidy estimates and an analysis of insurance incidence by establishment characteristics. (AHRQ 07-R014)

Workers Who Decline Employment-Related Health Insurance. D. Bernard, T. Selden, Medical Care Supplement, 44(5): May 2006, I-12-I-18. Examines health status, access to health care, utilization, and expenditures among families that declined health insurance coverage offered by employers using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey for 2001 and 2002. (AHRQ 07-R012)

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