University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Health status of the uninsured: An investigation of health behaviors and medical care usage

Hahn, Beth Ann

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/21865

Description

Title
Health status of the uninsured: An investigation of health behaviors and medical care usage
Author(s)
Hahn, Beth Ann
Issue Date
1992
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Flood, Ann Barry
Department of Study
Sociology
Discipline
Sociology
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Health Sciences, Public Health
  • Sociology, General
  • Sociology, Public and Social Welfare
Language
eng
Abstract
  • "Currently, approximately 37 million people do not have insurance. The normative belief is that insurance is a necessary and positive component of good health. Sociologists have included insurance in models to predict access to the medical care system, but the empirical relationship between insurance and health had not been tested. The question this dissertation sought to answer is ""Does insurance make a difference in health?"" The results support an association between insurance and self-reported measures of health. Other findings include: (1) Persons with private insurance rate their health higher and persons with public insurance rate their health lower compared to people without insurance. (2) Persons with part year insurance were not consistently different from the uninsured. (3) After controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, medical care utilization, and health behaviors, full year insurance status remained a significant predictor of self-rated health. (4) Women and minorities were more likely to report worse health after controlling for demographics, socioeconomics, medical care utilization, health behaviors, and type of insurance."
  • These findings have policy implications for expanding current public programs to cover the uninsured and continuing target strategies. This study establishes the relationship between insurance and health as an important area for sociological research and demonstrates the need for further investigation.
Type of Resource
text
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/21865
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1992 Hahn, Beth Ann

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