Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Survey, SHADAC has produced a set of data resources for the 50 states and D.C. that show how states compare to the U.S. average in measures of people’s self-reported physical and mental health, and how people’s physical and mental health varies depending on their race and ethnicity, level of income, and age within each state.

​This brief aims to assist state and federal analysts with survey development and/or analysis of existing survey data to generate estimates of health insurance coverage and access to care across racial and ethnic groups and according to nativity and/or immigrant status. The brief presents the collection and classification of survey data for populations defined by race, ethnicity, and nativity/immigrant (REI) status as well as the availability of these data in public use files. We focus in particular on surveys that are conducted by federal agencies and that collect information about health insurance coverage and access to care on an annual or periodic basis for the general population of the United States.