Table 14_3_4-2

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_4.2
People unable to get or delayed in getting needed medical care, dental care, or 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	48.3	1.2	14.7	0.8	43.9	1.1
Age	0–17	72,747	41.1	3.2	17.7	2.1	47.4	3.1
	18–44	111,219	55.7	1.6	13.1	1.1	37.5	1.4
	45–64	67,960	44.9	1.9	15.8	1.3	47.5	1.7
	65 and over	36,256	34.3	2.8	15.1	2.3	57.7	3.0
Gender	Male	140,802	46.6	1.6	15.2	1.1	44.3	1.6
Gender	Female	147,380	49.7	1.5	14.3	1.0	43.6	1.4
Race	White, single race	233,530	47.7	1.4	15.0	0.9	44.3	1.3
	Black, single race	35,504	55.0	2.8	11.3	1.6	38.8	2.8
	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	46.5	1.4	15.3	0.9	45.4	1.3
	Non-Hispanic, White	195,463	45.5	1.6	15.7	1.0	46.0	1.5
	Non-Hispanic, Black	34,875	54.8	2.9	11.4	1.6	39.1	2.8
	Hispanic	39,665	63.0	2.8	10.2	1.4	32.1	2.7
Family income^a	Negative/poor	35,618	63.2	2.1	12.2	1.6	32.3	2.0
	Near poor/low	52,639	64.4	2.1	10.8	1.3	31.7	2.1
	Middle	91,063	51.6	2.3	15.3	1.3	41.0	2.2
	High	108,862	22.3	1.6	18.9	1.4	64.3	1.8
Education,^b age 18 and over	Less than high school	45,282	63.5	2.1	10.1	1.3	34.0	2.1
	High school graduate	69,829	52.2	1.8	13.7	1.4	40.3	1.7
	At least some college	97,855	40.0	1.7	16.8	1.2	50.5	1.6
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	143,280	50.3	1.5	14.2	0.9	42.0	1.3
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	35,665	54.8	2.3	13.8	1.4	40.4	2.2
Health insurance, ages 18–64	Any private	183,519	38.4	1.7	17.9	1.0	51.1	1.5
	Public only	34,249	48.6	2.5	18.6	2.0	41.6	2.6
	Uninsured	33,061	84.6	1.8	*	*	17.4	1.9
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	10,202	41.4	4.5	14.6	3.8	53.1	4.8
	Medicare and private	20,648	28.5	3.5	11.6	2.9	64.8	4.0
	Medicare and other public	3,788	*	*	*	*	*	*
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	241,330	47.6	1.3	15.2	0.9	43.8	1.2
	Large central metro	87,683	47.4	2.3	15.5	1.4	44.5	2.1
	Large fringe metro	69,802	40.7	2.5	16.8	1.9	49.3	2.4
	Medium metro	58,570	52.1	2.7	14.3	1.5	40.5	2.5
	Small metro	25,275	55.0	4.1	12.7	2.7	35.0	3.1
	Nonmetropolitan	46,852	51.9	2.9	11.8	1.8	44.8	2.3
	Micropolitan	31,339	49.8	4.0	12.5	2.3	46.9	3.1
	Noncore	15,513	56.2	4.3	10.3	2.6	40.4	4.1
Language spoken most often at home	English	252,871	46.5	1.3	15.0	0.8	45.6	1.2
Language spoken most often at home	Other	31,079	69.0	2.9	11.1	1.9	25.4	2.6
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	255,683	47.3	1.5	14.5	0.9	44.4	1.4
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	30,511	51.8	2.1	15.5	1.4	42.3	2.1
Activity limitations,^c age 18 and over	Basic activities	27,554	47.4	2.3	15.2	1.5	47.4	2.3
	Complex activities	16,398	48.8	2.3	16.7	1.9	45.7	2.4
	Neither basic nor complex activities	179,243	49.8	1.4	13.6	0.9	42.2	1.3

^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 Less 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_4-2: 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_4-2.html