CPS (Current Population Survey)

The CPS is a monthly survey that the Census Bureau conducts for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to provide data on labor force participation and unemployment. It is the official source of government statistics on employment status and poverty. Data on health insurance coverage are collected through the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC), which is administered February through April. Data are collected through a combination of telephone and in-person modes using computer-assisted instruments. The CPS ASEC estimates are for the civilian non-institutionalized population and members of the Armed Forces living off post or with their families on post if at least one civilian adult lives in the household. The estimates exclude all other military, institutionalized group quarters and some non-institutionalized group quarters such as college/university housing.

SHADAC-Enhanced CPS

SHADAC's enhanced CPS health insurance coverage estimates are CPS data reweighted and adjusted to account for historical changes in the survey's methodology. These estimates do not correspond completely to estimates published by the Census Bureau. However, they can provide a more accurate assessment of coverage estimates over time. A description of the Enhanced CPS is at http://www.shadac.org/publications/comparing-state-uninsurance-estimates-shadac-enhanced-cps-and-cps.

ACS (American Community Survey)

The ACS is an ongoing survey that began collecting health insurance coverage estimates in the 2008 calendar year. The ACS sample is 25-30 times larger than that of the CPS and has enough sample for state and sub-state health insurance coverage estimates. The ACS is a mixed-mode survey with the modes applied sequentially. Households are sampled monthly, first by mail and with phone and in-person follow up to non-responding households. The ACS includes housing units and group quarters (both non-institutional and institutional), but the Data Center estimates are limited to the non-institutionalized population. This includes non-institutionalized group quarters such as college/university housing, group homes intended for adults, residential treatment facilities for adults, workers’ group living quarters and Job Corps centers, and religious group quarters.

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