Codes and Frequencies
Description
For persons who did not have private health insurance coverage at the time of the survey, HINORUNK indicates the respondent did not provide a reason why they did not have coverage. Respondents were handed a card which listed reasons or could specify "other" and were asked to pick all that applied.
Persons may have had coverage through other public programs, such as Medicaid or Medicare. This is because coverage through public programs was asked about later in the survey. In 1976, only individuals age 65 and older were asked a direct question about Medicare coverage (HIMCARE). Persons age 64 and under with Medicare would indicate such coverage as a reason for not having private insurance, HINORMCARE. In addition, some persons may have received Aid to Families with Dependent Children or Supplemental Security Income and these individuals would automatically have been enrolled in Medicaid. Coverage refers to at the time of the survey.
Comparability
There are no comparability issues. However, users should not compare this variable with variables for reasons for no insurance for 1997 forward.
Because persons in the universe for HINORUNK may have had coverage through other programs, HINORUNK is not comparable directly with variables for 1997 forward.
In addition, for 1997 forward, the NCHS began editing the insurance coverage variables to ensure accuracy. (See variable description for HINOTCOVE, for example.) Often, respondents misclassified the type of insurance they had. This might be shown, for example, by a mismatch between the verbatim name of an insurance plan and the type of insurance coverage the person selected from the categories on the card. The variables for 1997 forward reflect editing that verified the respondent's coverage status. For 1997, only persons without coverage for less than 3 years received the question on reason for no insurance.
Universe
- 1976: Persons who were not covered by Medicaid, Medicare, or did not have an insurance plan which paid for any part of a hospital, doctor or surgeon's bill (or who only had a health insurance plan that paid for accidents).
Availability
- 1976
Weights
- 1976 : PERWEIGHT
