Table 14_3_4-11

2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

The National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. It is organized around four dimensions of quality of care: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness.

Table 14_3_4.11
People unable to get or delayed in getting needed prescription medicines in the last 12 months due to financial or insurance reasons, United States, 2002
Population group		Total population (in thousands)	Main reasons^d
			Couldn't afford		Insurance related		Other
			Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		288,182	48.5	2.0	17.7	1.3	35.4	1.9
Age	0–17	72,747	*	*	*	*	*	*
	18–44	111,219	56.1	2.9	16.5	2.0	28.3	2.4
	45–64	67,960	45.6	3.3	18.1	2.6	38.6	3.3
	65 and over	36,256	39.1	4.7	16.2	3.2	47.1	4.7
Gender	Male	140,802	41.7	2.9	17.3	2.0	41.7	3.1
Gender	Female	147,380	53.0	2.3	18.0	1.7	31.2	2.1
Race	White, single race	233,530	46.7	2.2	18.4	1.5	36.4	2.1
	Black, single race	35,504	66.9	4.8	11.0	2.4	22.6	4.6
	Asian, single race	11,567	*	*	*	*	*	*
	NHOPI, single race	884	*	*	*	*	*	*
	AI/AN, single race	2,583	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Multiple races	4,114	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	248,517	46.4	2.2	18.4	1.4	36.9	2.1
	Non-Hispanic, White	195,463	44.1	2.5	19.3	1.6	38.2	2.3
	Non-Hispanic, Black	34,875	66.7	4.9	11.2	2.5	22.5	4.6
	Hispanic	39,665	68.8	4.4	11.1	2.7	20.9	4.1
Family income^a	Negative/poor	35,618	64.7	3.4	7.7	1.6	28.5	3.3
	Near poor/low	52,639	64.8	3.8	12.1	2.3	24.2	3.3
	Middle	91,063	48.8	3.7	21.0	2.7	32.1	3.6
	High	108,862	18.1	2.7	28.0	2.8	56.0	3.9
Education,^b age 18 and over	Less than high school	45,282	64.2	3.3	13.5	2.5	23.6	2.9
	High school graduate	69,829	54.6	3.5	13.0	2.1	34.1	3.1
	At least some college	97,855	36.7	2.7	22.3	2.3	43.1	3.3
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	143,280	50.4	2.7	18.0	1.7	33.0	2.6
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	35,665	53.3	3.8	14.8	2.2	33.8	3.9
Health insurance, ages 18–64	Any private	183,519	36.6	2.6	24.2	2.0	41.1	2.8
	Public only	34,249	51.0	4.7	13.7	3.2	35.6	4.4
	Uninsured	33,061	91.7	2.3	*	*	7.9	2.3
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	10,202	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Medicare and private	20,648	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Medicare and other public	3,788	*	*	*	*	*	*
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	241,330	47.3	2.3	18.2	1.5	36.1	2.1
	Large central metro	87,683	46.5	3.8	16.1	2.1	39.6	3.7
	Large fringe metro	69,802	35.2	4.2	24.8	3.6	41.5	3.9
	Medium metro	58,570	52.9	4.6	17.9	2.6	30.6	4.0
	Small metro	25,275	63.9	5.6	11.0	3.2	25.1	5.2
	Nonmetropolitan	46,852	54.0	4.0	15.4	2.6	31.9	3.8
	Micropolitan	31,339	52.4	5.9	15.3	3.4	34.5	4.9
	Noncore	15,513	*	*	*	*	*	*
Language spoken most often at home	English	252,871	46.7	2.1	18.3	1.4	36.5	2.0
Language spoken most often at home	Other	31,079	76.2	4.5	*	*	18.2	4.2
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	255,683	45.8	2.5	18.1	1.6	37.7	2.4
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	30,511	53.7	3.3	17.0	2.4	30.8	2.7
Activity limitations,^c age 18 and over	Basic activities	27,554	50.6	3.4	17.5	2.3	34.1	3.2
	Complex activities	16,398	52.2	3.5	17.7	2.8	32.1	3.1
	Neither basic nor complex activities	179,243	48.6	2.5	17.4	1.8	35.4	2.6

^a Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, over the poverty line to just below 200 percent of the poverty line; middle, 200 percent to just below 400 percent of the poverty line; and high, 400 percent of the poverty line and over.

^b Iess than high school refers to fewer than 12 years of education; high school graduate, 12 years of education; and at least some college, more than 12 years of education.

^c For more information, see the MEPS entry in Appendix A, Data Sources.

^d Denominator is persons who experienced difficulty. Responses unrelated to inability to afford care or insurance were collapsed into the "Other" category. For a full list of responses, see the documentation for the MEPS public use file.

* - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.

Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; NHOPI: Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; SE: standard error.

Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Current as of September 2009

Internet Citation: Table 14_3_4-11: 2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. September 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://archive.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr08/14_facilitators_barrierstocare/T14_3_4-11.html