title: Uninsured veterans who will need to obtain insurance coverage under the patient protection and affordable care act.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the number and clinical needs of uninsured veterans, including those who will be eligible for the Medicaid expansion and health insurance exchanges in 2014.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed weighted data for 8710 veterans from the 2010 National Survey of Veterans, classifying it by veterans' age, income, household size, and insurance status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 22 million veterans, about 7%, or more than 1.5 million, were uninsured and will need to obtain coverage by enrolling in US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) care or the Medicaid expansion or by participating in the health insurance exchanges. Of those uninsured, 55%, or more than 800 000, are likely eligible for the Medicaid expansion if states implement it. Compared with veterans with any health coverage, those who were uninsured were younger and more likely to be single, Black, and low income and to have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is likely to have a considerable impact on uninsured veterans, which may have implications for the VA, the Medicaid expansion, and the health insurance exchanges.
authors.affiliation: Jack Tsai and Robert Rosenheck are with the VA New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, West Haven, CT, and Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rosenheck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans