Table 14_4_4-2c

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_4_4.2c
People unable to get or delayed in getting needed prescription medicines, by family income,^a United States, 2005
Population group		Total		Negative/poor		Near poor/low		Middle		High
Population group		Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE	Percent	SE
Total		3.6	0.2	6.1	0.5	4.6	0.3	3.7	0.3	2.2	0.2
Age	0–17	1.1	0.2	1.6	0.4	0.8	0.2	1.0	0.3	*	*
	18–44	3.7	0.3	7.5	0.9	5.2	0.5	3.6	0.4	1.8	0.3
	45–64	5.6	0.3	13.7	1.7	9.1	1.0	6.2	0.7	3.1	0.4
	65 and over	4.3	0.5	4.3	1.0	5.2	0.8	5.5	1.1	2.8	0.7
Gender	Male	2.6	0.2	4.2	0.6	3.3	0.4	2.8	0.3	1.7	0.3
Gender	Female	4.5	0.3	7.5	0.7	5.7	0.5	4.6	0.4	2.7	0.3
Race	White, single race	3.6	0.2	6.8	0.7	4.3	0.4	3.9	0.3	2.2	0.2
	Black, single race	3.9	0.3	4.7	0.8	5.8	0.8	3.1	0.5	1.8	0.5
	Asian, single race	1.6	0.5	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
	NHOPI, single race	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
	AI/AN, single race	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
	Multiple races	5.9	1.3	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ethnicity	Non-Hispanic, all races	3.8	0.2	6.8	0.7	5.3	0.4	4.0	0.4	2.2	0.2
	Non-Hispanic, White	3.8	0.2	8.4	1.0	5.1	0.5	4.3	0.4	2.3	0.2
	Non-Hispanic, Black	3.9	0.3	4.8	0.8	6.0	0.8	3.1	0.5	1.9	0.5
	Hispanic	2.6	0.2	3.8	0.6	2.4	0.4	2.2	0.4	2.0	0.6
Education,^b age 18 and over	Less than high school	5.8	0.5	8.3	1.0	6.0	0.7	4.9	0.8	3.0	0.9
	High school graduate	4.6	0.3	7.6	1.1	5.5	0.7	5.2	0.6	2.5	0.4
	At least some college	3.8	0.3	10.4	1.7	7.1	0.8	4.2	0.5	2.4	0.3
Employment status, ages 18–64	Employed	3.7	0.2	7.0	1.0	5.6	0.6	4.3	0.4	2.2	0.2
Employment status, ages 18–64	Not employed	7.5	0.5	11.5	1.3	8.6	0.9	5.8	0.8	3.8	0.9
Health insurance, under age 65	Any private	2.6	0.2	5.1	1.0	2.9	0.4	3.3	0.3	1.9	0.2
	Public only	4.5	0.4	4.9	0.6	4.4	0.5	3.0	0.8	*	*
	Uninsured	6.8	0.6	10.3	1.3	7.5	1.0	5.3	0.8	*	*
Health insurance, age 65 and over	Medicare only	5.4	0.8	*	*	5.4	1.4	*	*	*	*
	Medicare and private	3.8	0.6	*	*	4.6	1.3	5.6	1.5	2.5	0.7
	Medicare and other public	5.1	1.1	*	*	6.5	1.8	*	*	*	*
Residence location^c	Metropolitan	3.5	0.2	6.3	0.6	4.5	0.4	3.7	0.3	2.1	0.2
	Large central metro	3.2	0.3	5.4	0.7	3.7	0.5	3.6	0.5	1.7	0.3
	Large fringe metro	3.6	0.3	7.5	1.5	4.5	0.9	3.5	0.5	2.7	0.4
	Medium metro	4.0	0.4	6.5	1.0	5.5	0.9	4.1	0.8	2.1	0.5
	Small metro	3.6	0.6	*	*	5.5	1.4	3.5	0.9	1.7	0.5
	Nonmetropolitan	3.9	0.4	5.1	0.8	4.8	0.7	3.9	0.6	2.6	0.5
	Micropolitan	3.8	0.4	4.5	1.0	5.0	0.8	4.3	0.7	2.2	0.6
	Noncore	4.2	0.7	6.0	1.6	4.6	1.4	3.3	0.8	3.7	1.0
Language spoken most often at home	English	3.8	0.2	6.7	0.6	5.3	0.4	4.0	0.3	2.2	0.2
Language spoken most often at home	Other	2.2	0.3	3.3	0.7	2.0	0.4	1.8	0.4	*	*
Perceived health status	Excellent/very good/good	2.7	0.2	4.0	0.5	3.3	0.3	2.9	0.3	1.9	0.2
Perceived health status	Fair/poor	11.6	0.7	15.8	1.6	11.5	1.3	11.9	1.3	7.2	1.1
Activity limitations,^c age 18 and over	Basic activities	11.8	0.8	18.4	2.2	12.4	1.4	11.2	1.3	6.9	1.2
	Complex activities	15.3	1.0	23.1	2.6	14.8	1.6	12.8	1.6	10.1	1.9
	Neither basic nor complex activities	3.1	0.2	5.0	0.7	4.2	0.4	3.6	0.3	2.0	0.2

^a Negative/poor refers to household incomes below the Federal poverty line; near poor/low, at or 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.

* - 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_4_4-2c: 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_4_4-2c.html