This report, "At the Brink: Trends in America's Uninsured 1994-2007" was released in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) Cover the Uninsured Week, March 22-28, 2009. The campaign has become the largest nonpartisan mobilization in history seeking solutions for the 45.7 million Americans who are uninsured. The report, prepared by SHADAC research, chronicles state-by-state health coverage trends. Over the last 15 years, nearly every state has seen increased numbers of uninsured residents, greater costs for workers while their incomes are flat, and significant erosion of private coverage.  March 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.

The largest portion of the Medicaid undercount is caused by survey reporting error; that is, Medicaid recipients misreport their enrollment in health insurance coverage surveys. In this study, we sampled known Medicaid enrollees to learn how they respond to health insurance questions and to document correlates of accurate and inaccurate reports. We found that Medicaid enrollees are fairly accurate reporters of insurance status and type of coverage, but some do report being uninsured. Multivariate analyses point to the prominent role of program-related factors in the accuracy of reports. Our findings suggest that the Medicaid undercount should not undermine confidence in survey-based estimates of uninsurance.

Call, K.T., G. Davidson, M. Davern, E.R. Brown, J.E. Kincheloe, J.G. Nelson. 2008. "Accuracy of self-reported health insurance coverage among Medicaid enrollees." Inquiry 45(4): 438-56.

Journal download site link

Presentation by Lynn Blewett to the Minnesota State Legislature at a joint meeting of the health care and human services finance and policy committees in Saint Paul, MN, February 10 2009.

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Presentation by Michael Davern at the 2009 SHADAC State Survey Workshop in Washington, DC, January 13 2009.

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