Loss of health insurance and the risk for a decline in self-reported health and physical functioning.
BACKGROUND
Millions of Americans are intermittently uninsured. The health consequences of this are not known.


METHODS
National survey.


METHODS
Six thousand seventy-two participants in the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) age 51 to 61 years old with private insurance in 1992.


METHODS
Loss of insurance coverage between 1992 and 1992 and development of a major decline in overall health or a new physical difficulty between 1994 and 1996.


RESULTS
In 1994, 5768 (95.0%) people continued to have private insurance, 229 (3.8%) reported having lost all insurance, and 75 (1.2%) converted to having only public insurance. Over the subsequent 2 years (1994-1996), the risk for a major decline in overall health was 15.6% for those who lost all insurance versus 7.2% for those with continuous private insurance (P <0.001). After adjusting for baseline sociodemographics, health behaviors, and health status, the adjusted relative risk for a major decline in health for those who lost coverage was 1.82 (95% CI, 1.25-2.59) compared with those with continuous private insurance. Those who lost insurance also had a higher risk for developing a new mobility difficulty compared with those with continuous private insurance (28.5% vs. 20.4%, respectively; P= 0.02), but this was not significant in multivariate analysis (adjusted RR, 1.26; 95% CI, 0.90-1.68).


CONCLUSIONS
Loss of insurance has adverse health consequences even within 2 years after becoming uninsured. Studies of insurance coverage should routinely measure the number of Americans uninsured at any time over the preceding 2 years as a more accurate measure of the population at risk from being uninsured.
Baker
David W
DW
Center for Health Care Research and Policy, Case Western Reserve University at MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio 44109-1998, USA. dwb@po.cwru.edu
Sudano
Joseph J
JJ
Albert
Jeffrey M
JM
Borawski
Elaine A
EA
Dor
Avi
A
D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012306:Risk; D020377:Self Efficacy