What people really know about their health insurance: a comparison of information obtained from individuals and their insurers.
OBJECTIVE
This study determined the validity of self-reported data on selected health insurance characteristics.


METHODS
We obtained telephone survey data on the presence of health insurance, source of insurance, length of time insured, and type of insurance (managed care or fee-for-service) from a random sample of 351 adults in 3 Wisconsin counties and compared findings with data from respondents' health insurers.


RESULTS
More than 97% of the respondents correctly reported that they were currently insured. For source of insurance among persons aged 18 to 64 years, sensitivity was high for those covered through private health insurance (93.8%) but low for those covered through public insurance (6.7%). Only 33.1% of the respondents accurately categorized length of enrollment in their current plan. Overall estimates for managed care enrollment were similar for the 2 sources, but individual validity was low: 84.2% of those in fee-for-service believed that they were in managed care.


CONCLUSIONS
Information obtained from the general population about whether they have health insurance is valid, but self-reported data on source of insurance, length of time insured, and type of insurance are suspect and should be used cautiously.
Nelson
D E
DE
Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga. 30341-3717, USA. den2@cdc.gov
Thompson
B L
BL
Davenport
N J
NJ
Penaloza
L J
LJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001364:Awareness; D003625:Data Collection; D004651:Employment; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013997:Time Factors; D014922:Wisconsin