Insurance coverage and ambulatory medical care of low-income children: United States, 1980.

In the household survey phase of the National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey of 1980, a survey was conducted of 17,123 persons who constituted a representative sample of the civilian population in the United States not residing in institutions. Through repeated interviews the survey obtained information on the health conditions of these people, the health care services they received in 1980, the costs of these services, and the sources of payment for services. This report, one of a series of reports on the survey findings, provides a profile of low-income children: Their health insurance coverage, health service use, and expenditures for physician visits. Children under 18 years of age in families below 150 percent of the 1980 Federal poverty level are considered low income. However, children who were ineligible to participate in the survey for part of the year are excluded, such as those who were born, who died, or who were institutionalized in 1980. A physician visit is defined as a face-to-face contact with a physician or a nonphysician working under the supervision of a physician. In addition, visits to nurse practitioners and physician assistants who were reported as "independent providers" are included. Otherwise, visits to independent providers (primarily chiropractors and optometrists), mental health visits, visits by physicians to hospital inpatients, and telephone contacts are excluded. Of the 63.9 million children under 18 years of age in the United States in 1980, about one-fourth (16.8 million) lived in low-income families, according to estimates from the National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey. Nearly one-half (46 percent) of the 16.8 million low-income children were covered by Medicaid for all or part of 1980: 31 percent were covered by Medicaid only for the full year, 3 percent were covered by Medicaid for part of 1980 and uninsured for the remainder of the year, and 12 percent were covered by both Medicaid and private insurance during the year. An additional 30 percent of the low-income children were privately insured for the full year, while 8 percent had private insurance coverage for part of the year and were uninsured otherwise. Sixteen percent of the children in low-income families, or 2.7 million children, were uninsured for all of 1980. When added to the 3 percent with part year Medicaid coverage and the 8 percent with private coverage part of the year, over one-fourth (28 percent) were uninsured for at least part of 1980.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)