On Tuesday, September 16th, the US Census Bureau will issue two reports: Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2013 and Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013. The former analyzes data from the American Community Survey (ACS) and the latter uses the Current Population Survey (CPS). With the release of the most recent income, poverty, and health insurance statistics, this blog provides an overview of the ACS and CPS health insurance data and clarifies differences between the two surveys.
Be on the lookout! In early November, CCF will publish our annual comprehensive analysis of the 2013 ACS health insurance data. The CCF report will use the 2011 and 2013 one-year ACS estimates to provide data on national, state, and local health insurance rates for children. CCF will also blog on the 2013 ACS and CPS data in September to provide a timely outline of the economic status and health insurance coverage rates of our nation’s children.
ACS
The ACS has collected data about health insurance coverage since 2008 and provides reliable year-to-year estimates as well as state-level statistics.
- The ACS produces single year estimates for national, state, and local areas including all geographic areas with a population of 65,000 or more, which includes all regions, states (including D.C.), and 814 county and county equivalents.
- It is the larger of the two surveys with over 3 million addresses annually.
- The ACS questions on health insurance ask if a respondent is insured at the time of the survey providing a “point-in-time” estimate.
- ACS data is collected continually throughout the year.
CPS
The CPS provides national health insurance coverage estimates and has been re-designed this year.
- The Census modified CPS questions regarding health insurance in order to accommodate ACA provisions. While the new data will provide a baseline for comparing 2013 to 2014 health insurance rates, the data are not comparable to CPS data collected in previous years.
- The CPS is a decades-long survey that has income data back to 1947 and poverty data to 1959.
- It has a much smaller sample size of about 68,000 addresses.
- The CPS questions on health insurance ask respondents if they are insured at the time of the interview, any time in the previous calendar year, and whether that coverage was continuous. New questions determine Marketplace participation, employer-sponsored insurance, and Medical Out-of-Pocket expenses (revised). CPS will now provide both a point-in-time estimate as well as an entire-year estimate.
- CPS data is collected throughout the year, typically three months of the year.
Below are additional resources provided by the US Census Bureau:
- Fact Sheet: Health Insurance Coverage 2013
- Income and Poverty Estimates: Guidance on When to Use Each Survey
- Fact Sheet: Income and Poverty: 2013
- Health Insurance Estimates: Guidance on When to Use Each Survey
And the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities on the recent changes to the CPS:
