The Uninsured at the Starting Line: Findings from the 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA

Additional Tables

Table A1: Demographics of Adults, by Insurance Coverage
Uninsured Insured
Employer Nongroup Medicaid
Income
< 138% FPL 53% 11%* 14%* 78%*
139-399% FPL 39% 36% 44% 20%*
>400% FPL 8% 53%* 42%*
Family Work Status
Working Family 66% 91%* 79%* 30%*
Non-Working Family 34% 9%* 21%* 70%*
Age
19-25 17% 14% 14%
26-34 27% 19%* 18% 26%
35-44 24% 23% 13%* 16%*
45-64 33% 44%* 58%* 44%*
Health Status
Ongoing Health Condition 30% 32% 32% 60%*
No Ongoing Health Condition 69% 67% 67% 39%*
Fair or Poor Health Status
Excellent/Very Good/Good 68% 88%* 86%* 54%*
Fair or Poor 32% 12%* 14%* 45%*
Race
White, Non Hispanic 49% 70%* 75%* 52%
Hispanic 30% 11%* 9%* 18%*
Black, Non-Hispanic 12% 10% 20%*
Asian/Pacific Islander 2% 4%
American Indian Alaska Native 1%
Other/DK, Non-Hispanic 6% 5% 5%
Citizenship
Citizen 81% 96%* 97%* 93%*
Non-Citizen 19% 4%* 7%*
Notes: Don’t Know and Refused responses not shown. Excludes people covered by other sources, such as Medicare, VA/CHAMPUS, or other state programs. NA: Not applicable
“–“: Estimates with relative standard errors greater than 30% or cell sizes below 50 are not provided.
* Estimate statistically significantly different from uninsured estimate at the 95% confidence level.Source: 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA.
Table A2: History of Uninsurance and Attempts to Gain Coverage Among Currently Uninsured Adults, by Income
All By Income
<138% FPL 139-400% FPL >400% FPL
Length of Time Uninsured
< 3 months 9% 7% 9%
3 Months to Less than a Year 10% 9% 13%
1 Year to 5 years 34% 33% 35%
5 Years or More 29% 31% 27%
Have Never Had Coverage 18% 20% 16%
Attempts to Gain Coverage
Applied for Medicaid in past 5 years 31% 38% 27%^
Applied for Medicaid but did not enroll 22% 27% 18%^
Applied for Medicaid but told ineligible 19% 25% 15%^
Tried to purchase nongroup coverage in past 5 years 22% 20% 22%
Tried to purchase nongroup coverage but did not purchase policy 17% 15% 17%
Tried to purchase nongroup coverage but too expensive 13% 14% 13%
Notes: Don’t Know and Refused responses not shown. Excludes people covered by other sources, such as Medicare, VA/CHAMPUS, or other state programs. NA: Not applicable
“–“: Estimates with relative standard errors greater than 30% or cell sizes below 50 are not provided.
^ Estimate statistically significantly different from <138% FPL estimate at the 95% confidence level.
Source: 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA.
Table A3: Ease of Applying for Medicaid, Among Adults who Have Applied, by Income
All By Income
<138% FPL 139-400% FPL >400% FPL
Share reporting step was somewhat or very easy:  
Finding out how to apply 75% 76% 74%
Filling in requested information 74% 74% 74%
Assembling the required paperwork 62% 63% 59%
Submitting the application 78% 78% 78%
Share reporting all steps were somewhat or very easy 50% 49% 51%
Note: Includes adults who either are currently covered by Medicaid or report that they have applied for the program within the past 5 years.
“–“: Estimates with relative standard errors greater than 30% or cell sizes below 50 are not provided.
Source: 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA.
Table A4: Reasons for and Problems with Choosing Health Plan, Among Adults who Had and Made a Choice, by Income
All By Income
<138% FPL 139-400% FPL >400% FPL
Share who chose plan primarily because:
Your costs under the plan were low 29% 21% 30%^ 31%^
The selection of health care providers was broad or included your doctor 22% 27% 20% 21%
The plan covered a wide range of benefits or a specific benefit that you need 32% 31% 30% 34%
Friends or family recommended the plan 6% 7% 8%
Other members of your family were already enrolled in this plan 4% 5% 3%
Some other reason 6% 7% 8% 5%
Share of Insured Adults Reporting:
Difficulty comparing services covered under each plan 24% 29% 28% 19%^
Difficulty comparing what costs would be under each plan 17% 17% 20% 16%
Difficulty comparing the doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers you could see under each plan 24% 25% 24% 24%
At least one aspect of plan choice to be difficult 36% 41% 40% 32%
Note: Includes insured adults who had a choice of plans and reported that they made the choice themselves. Excludes those who responded Don’t Know or Refused.
“–“: Estimates with relative standard errors greater than 30% or cell sizes below 50 are not provided.
^ Estimate statistically significantly different from <138% FPL estimate at the 95% confidence level.
Source: 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA.
Table A5: Problems with Health Coverage among Insured Adults, by Income and Coverage
Insured
Employer Nongroup Medicaid
Rate Health Coverage as “Not so good” or “Poor”
All 11% 26%* 16%*
By Income
<138% FPL 16% 16%
139-400% FPL 11% 18%
>400% FPL 9%
Needed Service Not Covered by Plan
All 13% 27%* 26%*
By Income
<138% FPL 18% 26%
139-400% FPL 16% 27% 25%
>400% FPL 11%
Plan Would Not Pay for Service You Thought Was Covered
All 21% 34%* 34%*
By Income
<138% FPL 29% 32%
139-400% FPL 24% 32% 39%
>400% FPL 18%
Costs You Had to Pay for a Service Were Higher Than Expected
All 38% 48%* 22%*
By Income
<138% FPL 36% 21%*
139-400% FPL 38% 48%
>400% FPL 38% 54%*
Notes: Excludes people covered by other sources, such as Medicare, VA/CHAMPUS, or other state programs.
“–“: Estimates with relative standard errors greater than 30% or cell sizes below 50 are not provided.
* Estimate statistically significantly different from employer estimate at the 95% confidence level.
Source: 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA.
Table A6: Knowledge of Coverage Pathways available under the ACA, by Income and Coverage
Uninsured^ Insured
Employer Nongroup Medicaid
Know “only a little” or “nothing at all” about their state’s Medicaid program
All 70% 69% 73%* 46%*
By Income
<138% FPL 70% 64% 65% 46%*
139-400% FPL 67% 71% 75% 47%*
>400% FPL 84% 68%* 73%
Know “only a little” or “nothing at all” about the new Marketplaces
All 82% 63%* 70%* 79%
By Income
<138% FPL 86% 77%* 69%* 78%
139-400% FPL 80% 71%* 78% 84%
>400% FPL 73% 55% 62%
Notes: Excludes people covered by other sources, such as Medicare, VA/CHAMPUS, or other state programs.
^ Uninsured excludes undocumented immigrants.
“–“: Estimates with relative standard errors greater than 30% or cell sizes below 50 are not provided.
* Estimate statistically significantly different from uninsured estimate at the 95% confidence level. Source: 2013 Kaiser Survey of Low-Income Americans and the ACA.

 

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