Changing the CPS Health Insurance Questions and the Implications on the Uninsured Rate: Redesign and Production Estimates

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SEHSD-WP-2014-16

The Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS ASEC) generates widely used estimates on health insurance coverage and the uninsured. However, research suggests that the calendar year estimate of the uninsured is higher than estimates from other federal surveys and that estimates from the CPS ASE may actually reflect a mixture of current and past year coverage. To address this concern, the Census Bureau substantially redesigned the CPS ASEC health insurance module over the past ten years. The redesigned instrument was fielded in a large national content test in March 2013. In addition to the features of the redesigned instrument, the content test also takes better advantage of automated computer-assisted interviewing and adds important new content to the instrument. The 2013 content test fielded a complete CPS ASEC interview to previous CPS respondents who were interviewed by Census Bureau telephone center staff.

 

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