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Submit Comments on Adding Marketplace Questions to the ACS
December 01, 2014:December 1, 2014: We want to make our colleagues in the health services research and policy community aware of a Federal Register notice about the American Community Survey (ACS).
The notice addresses the potential removal of seven questions (1 housing, 1 education, 5 marriage) based on the results of the 2014 Content Review. This change may create an opportunity to add questions about the Health Insurance Marketplace. No mention is made of adding questions; however, adding new items to the ACS is dependent upon the removal of others, so the current comment period presents an opportunity to voice support for adding insurance questions related to the Health Insurance Marketplace.
A 2013 effort to add Marketplace questions to the ACS health insurance series failed perhaps in part because members of the health policy community did not submit letters/comments in support of adding the questions. With that in mind, we urge you to take the opportunity to comment in writing, explaining the value of retaining the point-initime measure of insurance coverage in the ACS and adding Health Insurance Marketplace questions to the ACS.
Direct Comments by December 30, 2014 to:
Jennifer Jessup
Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer
Department of Commerce, Room 6616
14th and Constitution Avenue NW.
Washington, DC 20230
You can also send comments via e-mail to jjessup@doc.gov.
Suggested Wording
"The ACS represents an invaluable annual source of health insurance information at the national, state and local level. With its large sample size, it is also the source of information on insurance coverage, or lack of coverage, among subpopulations of interest, including disparities populations. The introduction of the Health Insurance Marketplace dramatically changed the way health insurance is purchased; however, the ACS health insurance series is not designed to pick up enrollment in the Marketplace. Tracking enrollment in the Marketplace is important given the resources invested to provide broad access to quality health insurance products. As the Census Bureau contemplates removing items outlined in the Federal Register, please consider adding ‘Marketplace’ to the list of sources of coverage and adding additional questions on premiums and premium subsidies aimed at tracking the health insurance market."
Feel free to add personal comments on the value of the ACS health insurance series for your work.
A 60-day Federal Register seeking public comments on the ACS Content Review was published today, October 31st, and will remain open until December 30, 2014.
As many of you may be aware, the U.S. Census Bureau recently completed the first phase of a comprehensive content review of every question on the American Community Survey (ACS), using an objective cost-benefit analysis. With the aim of delivering maximum public benefit while ensuring a minimum of public burden, the Census Bureau’s analysis yields seven questions slated for removal from the survey. A 60-day Federal Register notice is published today, October 31, 2014, through December 30, 2014, and we invite you to review it and provide comments according to the instructions included in the notice. The link is:https://www.federalregister.
For additional information, please go to the ACS Content Review webpage at: http://www.census.gov/acs/www/
