Statistical Brief: Just What the Doctor Ordered: The Effect of Health Insurance Coverage on Doctor and Hospital Visits
Statistical Brief: Just What the Doctor Ordered: The Effect of Health Insurance Coverage on Doctor and Hospital Visits
Report Number: SB/95-12
Over the course of 2 years, most of us see a doctor, usually several times.
How heavily do Americans use health care services? The two chief measures — visits to a doctor and nights spent as a hospital patient — give us a good idea.
According to the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), 84 percent of Americans aged 16 to 64 visited a doctor at least once during a 24-month period between 1990 and 1992; 14 percent spent one or more nights as a patient in a hospital. All in all, these Americans made 1.1 billion doctor visits (or 7 per person) and spent 154 million nights (1 per person) in a hospital during the 2 years. (Visits to the dentist and doctor contacts in a hospital were not considered doctor visits.)
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Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021