Table 14_3_4-1

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_4.1
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, 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	54.5	1.2	12.6	0.7	40.2	1.3
Age	0–17	73,563	42.5	3.6	17.5	2.2	42.5	3.3
	18–44	111,067	63.9	1.8	10.5	1.0	32.3	1.8
	45–64	74,078	53.6	1.9	15.0	1.3	42.3	1.9
	65 and over	37,477	36.0	3.1	8.0	1.6	61.5	3.2
Gender	Male	145,116	55.2	1.9	10.4	1.0	41.0	1.8
Gender	Female	151,069	53.9	1.3	14.2	0.9	39.7	1.3
Race	White, single race	237,761	53.0	1.4	12.7	0.8	41.2	1.4
	Black, single race	36,870	63.5	2.3	11.4	1.5	33.0	2.3
	Asian, single race	12,659	*	*	*	*	*	*
	NHOPI, single race	1,078	*	*	*	*	*	*
	AI/AN, single race	2,332	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Multiple races	5,484	67.0	6.8	18.7	4.7	32.3	5.3
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	252,609	51.8	1.3	12.8	0.8	42.7	1.3
	Non-Hispanic, White	196,514	49.7	1.5	12.9	0.9	44.2	1.6
	Non-Hispanic, Black	35,880	63.4	2.3	11.2	1.5	33.2	2.4
	Hispanic	43,576	73.0	2.5	11.3	1.6	22.8	2.3
Family income^a	Negative/poor	37,915	68.9	2.1	11.5	1.5	29.4	2.3
	Near poor/low	54,033	68.7	2.3	12.2	1.6	27.9	2.1
	Middle	92,693	56.3	2.5	11.1	1.4	38.7	2.2
	High	111,543	29.1	2.6	15.6	1.7	61.0	2.7
Education,^b age 18 and over	Less than high school	41,928	70.0	2.3	8.8	1.2	30.2	2.0
	High school graduate	70,724	59.4	1.8	11.9	1.2	35.3	1.8
	At least some college	107,388	46.8	2.0	13.4	1.2	48.4	2.0
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	147,001	58.4	1.5	12.2	1.0	36.4	1.6
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	37,780	61.9	2.0	13.0	1.4	37.8	2.0
Health insurance, ages 18–64	Any private	182,776	43.1	1.9	15.8	1.3	48.3	1.9
	Public only	38,952	55.4	2.2	20.5	2.0	35.9	2.3
	Uninsured	35,796	89.5	1.4	1.9	0.5	13.8	1.5
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	10,078	49.5	5.1	*	*	50.7	5.2
	Medicare and private	21,331	22.2	3.6	9.6	2.6	74.8	3.9
	Medicare and other public	4,477	*	*	*	*	*	*
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	247,418	53.8	1.3	13.0	0.8	40.4	1.4
	Large central metro	89,436	54.9	2.2	13.4	1.2	39.5	2.3
	Large fringe metro	73,350	48.2	2.5	15.4	1.9	44.4	2.3
	Medium metro	59,108	55.4	2.8	11.2	1.3	39.3	2.9
	Small metro	25,524	60.3	4.5	9.6	1.9	35.7	4.3
	Nonmetropolitan	48,767	57.7	3.4	10.9	2.0	39.4	3.2
	Micropolitan	31,968	54.7	3.6	14.2	2.6	39.8	3.8
	Noncore	16,799	62.8	4.5	5.5	1.2	38.8	5.2
Language spoken most often at home	English	257,411	52.3	1.3	13.0	0.8	42.3	1.3
Language spoken most often at home	Other	34,902	74.9	3.0	8.8	1.7	20.6	3.0
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	262,298	52.1	1.4	12.4	0.8	41.2	1.5
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	31,890	61.5	2.1	13.3	1.2	37.5	2.1
Activity limitations,^c age 18 and over	Basic activities	29,148	56.8	2.3	12.9	1.3	42.7	2.1
	Complex activities	17,758	59.8	2.3	14.3	1.5	39.7	2.2
	Neither basic nor complex activities	183,537	55.5	1.5	11.8	0.9	39.2	1.5

^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 to 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_4-1: 2008 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. September 2009. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr08/14_facilitators_barrierstocare/T14_3_4-1.html