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Fri Nov 9 10:26:13 GMT 2007

This was from and editorial today.

The new study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, estimated
that in 2004 nearly 1.8 million veterans were uninsured and unable to get
care in veterans' facilities. An additional 3.8 million members of their
households faced the same predicament. All told, this group made up roughly
12 percent of the huge population of uninsured Americans. 

Most of the uninsured veterans were working-class people who were too poor
to afford private insurance but not poor enough to qualify for care under a
priority system administered by the Veterans Affairs Department. Some were
unable to get care because there was no V.A. facility nearby, or the nearest
facility had a long waiting list, or they could not afford the co-payments
required of some veterans.

This is the abstract from Pub Med:

1: Am J <javascript:AL_get(this,%20'jour',%20'Am%20J%20Public%20Health.');>
Public Health. 2007 Oct 30; [Epub ahead of print]
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/utils/fref.fcgi?PrId=3051&itool=Abstract
Plus-def&uid=17971547&db=pubmed&url=http://www.ajph.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=
long&pmid=17971547> Click here to read Links
<javascript:PopUpMenu2_Set(Menu17971547);> 

Lack of Health Coverage Among US Veterans From 1987 to 2004.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Himme
lstein%20DU%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_Results
Panel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus> Himmelstein DU,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Lasse
r%20KE%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel
.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus> Lasser KE,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22McCor
mick%20D%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPan
el.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus> McCormick D,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Bor%2
0DH%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pu
bmed_RVAbstractPlus> Bor DH,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Boyd%
20JW%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.P
ubmed_RVAbstractPlus> Boyd JW,
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=Search&Term=%22Woolh
andler%20S%22%5BAuthor%5D&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP
anel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus> Woolhandler S.

Harvard Medical School.

Objectives. Veterans Administration health care enrollment is restricted to
veterans with service-connected problems and those who are poor. We sought
to determine how many veterans were uninsured, trends in veterans' coverage,
and whether uninsured veterans lacked access to medical care. Methods. We
analyzed annual data from 2 federal surveys, the Current Population Survey
for the years 1988 to 2005 and the National Health Interview Survey for 2002
to 2004. Results. Nearly 1.8 million veterans were uninsured and not
receiving Veterans Administration care in 2004. The proportion of
working-age veterans lacking coverage peaked in 1993 at 14.2%, fell to 9.9%
in 2000, and rose steadily to 12.7% in 2004. Uninsured veterans had
substantial access problems; 51.4% had no usual source of care (vs 8.9% of
insured veterans), and 26.5% reported failing to get needed care because of
the cost (vs 4.3% of insured veterans). Conclusions. Many US veterans are
uninsured and lack adequate access to health care.

PMID: 17971547 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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