Codes and Frequencies
Description
For persons in families with at least one private health insurance plan, HI1EMPPAY indicates whether any of the cost of the premium of the first plan reported was paid for by an employer or union. If necessary, interviewers defined an insurance premium to respondents as "regular payments for health insurance coverage only, not for health care services. Frequently, these payments are made by payroll deductions."
Details about the characteristics of insurance plans (such as HI1EMPPAY) reflect plans for any family member in the household. In order to determine if the person (rather than someone else in the family) was covered by this plan, analysts should use the variable HI1PCOV (Health Insurance Plan 1: Person's Coverage Status), which indicates whether the person was covered by the plan.
Related variables
Please use the IPUMS NHIS drop down menu and search functions for other related variables.
Information was collected on up to four plans per family (and on up to five plans in 1989).
Thus, information about payment of premiums by an employer or union for the family's private insurance plan(s) may appear in multiple variables: HI1EMPPAY, HI2EMPPAY, HI3EMPPAY, and HI4EMPPAY (and HI5EMPPAY for 1989). Likewise, the complementary variables HI1PCOV, HI2PCOV, HI3PCOV, and HI4PCOV (and HI5PCOV in 1989) indicate coverage status for the individual under each plan.
Users may prefer to use the constructed variable HIPEMPAYR (Has any private insurance plan paid in part or full by employer), which was created by the IHIS staff using HI1EMPPAY through HI5EMPPAY and which indicates whether an individual was covered by any plan in which the employer or union paid for some of the cost of premiums.
Definitions of Private Coverage
The definition of private health insurance was consistent from 1989 to 1996, with the key exception that single service plans were considered to be a form of private health insurance for 1993 to 1996.
Users are strongly encouraged to review the user notes Insurance Data Collection and Private Insurance Definitions.
For 1989 and 1992, respondents with single service plans were not considered to have private health insurance and did not receive the question for HI1EMPPAY. For 1993 to 1996, those with single service plans were considered to be covered by private health insurance and received the question for HI1EMPPAY.
Comparability
Apart from changes in the survey quarters in which this question was asked and the inclusion of single service plans for 1993 to 1996, HI1EMPPAY is comparable over time.
Note that HI1EMPPAY and HIP1EMP (available for 1997 forward) are not entirely comparable. For 1997 forward, single service plans were not considered to be health insurance. Details of private plans (such as cost) for 1997 forward also reflect back editing by the NCHS staff, who verified the accuracy of the reported type of insurance coverage.
Because these caveats limit comparability, users may wish to employ the constructed variable HIPEMPAYR (Has any private insurance plan paid in part or full by employer), which covers the period from 1989 forward. This summary variable was created by the IHIS staff to indicate whether an individual was covered by any insurance plan paid for by the employer.
Universe
- 1989: Persons who were covered by a private health insurance plan that pays any part of a hospital, doctor or dental bill and whose employer pays any part of the plan.
- 1992: Persons who were covered by a private health insurance plan (excluding Medicare and single service plans) that pays any part of a hospital, doctor bill obtained through an employer or union.
- 1993: Persons in quarters 3 and 4 who were covered by a private health insurance plan (including single service plans) originally obtained through an employer or union.
- 1994=1996: Persons who were covered by a private health insurance plan (including single service plans) originally obtained through an employer or union.
Availability
- 1989, 1992-1996
Weights
- 1989, 1992, 1994-1996 : PERWEIGHT
- 1993 : SAMPWEIGHT
