Supplementary Table 1
Health Care Delays, Health Limitations, and Health Service Utilization for Working-Age Adults with Chronic Conditions by Insurance Type, 1999.


The purpose of this table is to provide estimates for two populations not included in Issue Brief No. 49: Medicare and Medicaid working-age adults with chronic conditions. Although these enrollees generally have more health problems, they are much less likely to report unmet needs than the uninsured. They are somewhat more likely to have unmet needs than the privately insured.

 
Uninsured
Private Insurance Medicarea Medicaid
Did not obtain or postponed care in past year        
Percent who did not obtain needed care at least once in past year 27* 8 12* 18*
Percent who delayed or postponed care in past year 54* 27 28 36*
Percent who did not obtain or delayed care because of worries about cost 48* 10* 14* 12
Health and physical limitations        
Percent reporting fair/poor health 37* 17 63* 53*
Percent with a lot of physical limitationsb 16* 8 48* 30*
Health service utilization in past year        
Percent with at least one doctor visit 74* 92 94 91
Number of doctor visits (mean) 4.0* 5.6 10.1* 8.8*
Number of emergency room visits (mean) 0.81* 0.43 1.28* 1.60*
Number of ER visits with hospital admission (mean) 0.67* 0.35 0.89* 1.31*
Number of hospital admissions excluding childbirth (mean) 0.18 0.17 0.64* 0.37*
Number of surgeries-inpatient and outpatient (mean) 0.15* 0.28 0.45* 0.29

* Estimate is significantly different at p<.05 from estimate for those with private insurance.

a. Includes dual-eligibles (those with both Medicare and Medicaid coverage)

b. Health limits the ability to perform moderate activities such as moving a table or pushing a vacuum cleaner a lot.

Source: HSC Community Tracking Study Household Survey, 1998-99.

These results are linked to the analysis in Reed, Marie C. and Ha T. Tu, Triple Jeopardy: Low Income, Chronically Ill and Uninsured in America, Issue Brief No. 49, Center for Studying Health System Change, Washington, D.C. (February 2002).