HEALTHCARE IN THE UNITED STATES
ACCESS ISSUES IN HEALTH CARE
families with income categories of at or above 400% of poverty income level. Although findings were nonsignificant, the data thus indicates that most uninsured children live in high-income families, families possibly without any insurance for any family member. Two statistically-significant findings by Berchick et al. were that more uninsured children lived in the South and were of Hispanic descent. This is congruent with the NHIS 2018 findings that the racial characteristics of uninsured children reveal the least likely to be insured were Hispanic children (7.7%); followed by non-Hispanic whites (4.1%); non-Hispanic Blacks (4.0%); and non-Hispanic Asian (3.8%) children (NCHS, 2019) (Figure 8.2).
Figure 8.2: Health Insurance Coverage Among Children Under Age 18 Years, By Type of Coverage and Race and Hispanic Origin: United States, 2007–2018 (Preliminary Data). NOTES: Estimates for 2018 are preliminary and are shown with a dashed line. Health insurance categories are mutually exclusive. A small percentage of children are covered by Medicare, military plans, or other plans. Estimates for this group are not presented.
Source: Health, United States 2018
Attribution: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
License: Public Domain
Probably not surprisingly, the largest age group lacking health insurance in the U.S. is the age group 25-34 years, most of whom are no longer covered by their parent’s insurance. This age group may be graduating from college and having difficulty finding full-time employment. Berchick et al. (2019) found that those working less than full-time and/or less than year-round were more likely to be uninsured.
For all adults, those of Hispanic origin were the most likely to be uninsured, followed by Blacks, Whites, and then Asians (NCHS, 2019). Data was not provided concerning legal citizenship. Importantly, health-wise, the NIHS (NCHS) discovered Hispanic persons had the highest rate of diabetes. See Figure 8.3 below for health insurance coverage for adults aged 18-64 and ethnicity.
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