The number of Americans who go without health insurance for an entire year has been steadily rising from 32 million in 1988 to 45 million in 2007. Studies have shown that being uninsured, even for short periods of time, has an adverse effect on a person’s health. There has not been much research about how the incidence and duration of uninsured periods have changed over time. Now, in a study published in the April 23, 2009 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers reveal that, from 2001 through 2004, more people had periods in which they were not insured than in the years from 1983 through 1986.

Using information from the Survey of Income and Program Participation of the U.S. Census Bureau, researchers from Harvard University and the National Bureau of Economic Research found that the percentage of the population that lost health insurance in a 12-month period increased from 19.8% in 1983-1986 to 21.8% in 2001-2004. In particular, the percentage that was uninsured for a period of time increased among people with the lowest educational level due to loss of private health coverage. However, the periods without insurance were shorter in 2001-2004 because of an increase in transitions to public coverage.

U.S. policymakers have been proposing ways to provide health care coverage for an increased number of uninsured Americans. Based on the results of this study, if private health coverage continues to decline, measures such as expansion of public insurance will be needed to offset the decline.

Source: NEJM. 2009;360:1740-1748.