HEALTHCARE IN THE UNITED STATES

ACCESS ISSUES IN HEALTH CARE

cheap compared to what many young people in my situation have gone through.

First person perspective vignette collected and created by D. Howe, 2020.

For your consideration: Mr. J. describes a time when he didn’t have health insurance. Like many others without health insurance coverage, Mr. J. avoided going to the doctor or seeking routine care and also tried to “tough it out” in times of illness. Access issues to medical care are common when someone doesn’t have health insurance. Are there any services available that Mr. J. could have used in order to get the healthcare he needed during times of illness? What about for yearly check-ups when he isn’t sick? Have you ever known someone without health insurance? Did they also have access issues to healthcare services?

According to Cohen et al. (2019), 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) data from HHS and the CDC reveal that 30.4 million civilian individuals (9.4% of the noninstitutionalized population) were without health insurance coverage at the time of the interview, and this result shows a decrease in the uninsured over the last eight years. It is important to note that statistics may vary slightly depending on which data are used. Berchick et al. (2019) provide statistics from two U.S. Census Bureau surveys—data retrieved from a nationwide survey from the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC); and a state-based survey, the American Community Survey (ACS). Berchick et al. report 27.5 million persons without health insurance, 8.5% of the total noninstitutionalized population in 2018 (compared to 9.4% from Cohen et al., 2019). Berchick et al. report this as a slight increase of uninsured persons from 2017. Over two-thirds of the insured population had private health insurance, while the rest of those insured were covered by public health insurance (Medicare or Medicaid) (Cohen et al., 2019). Other interesting and important data obtained in the NHIS 2018 survey among age groups are as follows:

• Ages 0-17 years: 5.2% were uninsured, 41.8% had Medicaid or

Medicare, and 54.7% had private insurance

• Ages 18-64: 13.3% were uninsured; 19.4% had Medicaid or Medicare;

and 68.9% (136.6 million) had private insurance

• Ages 25-34: the age group that lacked health insurance the most in

2018. Only 17% of individuals had a form of health insurance (Cohen et al., 2019).

At first glance, the number of children uninsured is alarming, when considering most children are eligible for insurance from federal or state funds. Berchick et al. (2019) found that the children without insurance were most likely to be from

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