Table 14_3_4-4

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_4.4
People unable to get or delayed in getting needed medical care in the last 12 months due to financial or insurance reasons, United States, 2005
Population group		Total population (in thousands)	Main reasons^d
			Couldn't afford		Insurance related		Other
			Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		296,185	47.6	1.8	9.8	0.9	45.0	1.7
Age	0–17	73,563	30.1	4.3	13.8	3.4	56.3	4.7
	18–44	111,067	58.8	2.6	7.9	1.1	36.1	2.5
	45–64	74,078	48.2	2.6	11.4	1.5	43.2	2.5
	65 and over	37,477	16.4	3.9	*	*	77.7	4.0
Gender	Male	145,116	46.4	2.5	8.3	1.3	47.9	2.5
Gender	Female	151,069	48.5	1.9	10.9	1.1	42.9	1.9
Race	White, single race	237,761	45.7	2.0	10.0	1.0	46.5	1.9
	Black, single race	36,870	59.4	4.0	10.9	2.4	33.1	3.6
	Asian, single race	12,659	*	*	*	*	*	*
	NHOPI, single race	1,078	*	*	*	*	*	*
	AI/AN, single race	2,332	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Multiple races	5,484	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	252,609	45.1	1.9	9.9	0.9	47.3	1.8
	Non-Hispanic, White	196,514	42.4	2.1	10.2	1.1	49.6	2.0
	Non-Hispanic, Black	35,880	58.7	4.0	11.1	2.4	33.2	3.7
	Hispanic	43,576	65.4	3.9	9.2	2.0	28.5	3.9
Family income^a	Negative/poor	37,915	64.2	3.5	9.4	1.8	29.6	3.2
	Near poor/low	54,033	63.0	3.1	7.7	1.8	32.5	2.7
	Middle	92,693	47.5	3.2	10.0	1.6	43.6	3.1
	High	111,543	19.6	3.2	12.0	2.0	71.0	3.8
Education,^b age 18 and over	Less than high school	41,928	62.3	3.2	6.9	1.6	33.3	2.7
	High school graduate	70,724	54.9	2.9	9.8	1.7	38.3	2.5
	At least some college	107,388	39.8	2.8	10.1	1.4	52.5	2.9
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	147,001	54.1	2.3	9.3	1.1	39.5	2.3
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	37,780	53.0	3.0	9.9	1.7	39.7	2.8
Health insurance, ages 18–64	Any private	182,776	30.9	2.3	13.7	1.5	57.8	2.5
	Public only	38,952	45.3	3.8	14.0	2.5	43.1	3.5
	Uninsured	35,796	87.6	2.0	*	*	13.4	2.2
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	10,078	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Medicare and private	21,331	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Medicare and other public	4,477	*	*	*	*	*	*
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	247,418	47.4	2.0	10.0	1.0	45.1	1.9
	Large central metro	89,436	46.4	2.8	11.1	1.7	45.2	2.9
	Large fringe metro	73,350	48.0	3.7	10.2	2.0	45.3	3.7
	Medium metro	59,108	47.8	3.8	9.8	1.9	43.7	3.6
	Small metro	25,524	48.0	6.5	*	*	48.0	5.4
	Nonmetropolitan	48,767	48.7	4.3	8.8	1.6	44.5	3.9
	Micropolitan	31,968	43.3	4.9	12.5	2.2	47.0	4.7
	Noncore	16,799	58.2	6.1	*	*	40.0	5.7
Language spoken most often at home	English	257,411	44.2	1.8	10.2	1.0	47.9	1.8
Language spoken most often at home	Other	34,902	77.3	4.1	6.4	1.8	19.3	3.9
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	262,298	47.3	2.0	8.8	0.9	45.7	2.0
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	31,890	48.1	3.2	12.1	1.7	43.6	3.0
Activity limitations,^c age 18 and over	Basic activities	29,148	46.3	3.2	10.1	1.7	47.0	2.8
	Complex activities	17,758	46.2	3.7	12.6	2.1	44.9	3.1
	Neither basic nor complex activities	183,537	50.9	2.2	8.9	1.1	42.5	2.2

^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_4-4: 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_4-4.html