Uninsured & Underinsured

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Changes in Coverage in the Individual and Group Health Insurance Markets and the Effect of Health Status

A discussion of the various government surveys that produce estimates of the number of people without health insurance.

According to the Census Bureau's 2005 Current Population Survey (CPS), 45.8 million individuals in 2004 or 15.7% of the civilian non-institutionalized population were uninsured. Those that lack insurance represent a diverse group. Understanding the uninsured population is important for policy makers looking to design solutions to the problem.

TRIM3's 2001 Baseline Simulation of Medicaid and SCHIP Eligibility and Enrollment: Methods and Results TRIM3 Microsimulation Project Technical Paper April 2005 By: Linda Giannarelli, Paul Johnson, Sandi Nelson, and Meghan Williamson Urban Institute

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) performed an analysis of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) to investigate the characteristics of those who are uninsured for 13-24 months over a two-year period. For this analysis people uninsured for over one year are referred to as "the long-term uninsured."

Understanding Estimates of the Uninsured: Putting the Differences in Context ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: ASPE would like to thank those reviewers at the U.S.

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation