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The Impact of Wireless-only Households on State Surveys of Health Insurance Coverage

SHADAC Staff
March 11, 2009

SHADAC's Issue Brief #15 examines the increasing prevalence of cell phone coverage in the U.S., and the consequent increase in the number of people who use their cell phone in place of a landline.  The wireless-only trend makes it difficult to reach target populations and may eventually threaten the quality of the data collected.  This issue brief documents the survey research issues posed by the increase in wireless-only coverage in the U.S. and highlights the challenges posed by this environment and potential solutions.  March 2009.

The report released by the National Center for Health Statistics includes technical documentation on the model used to develop these estimates.