Comparing Federal Government Surveys That Count the Uninsured: 2017
September 2017:
This brief provides an annual update to comparisons of uninsurance estimates from four federal surveys1:
The American Community Survey (ACS)
The Current Population Survey (CPS)
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - Household Component (MEPS-HC)
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
In this brief, we present current and historical national estimates of uininsurance along with the most recent avaialble state-level estimates from these surveys. We also discuss the main reasons for variation in the estimates across the different surveys.
1Another federal survey that provides estimates of the uninsured is the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which provides uninsurance estimates for the adult population 18 years and over nationally and among states. Details about the BRFSS are included in Appendix A of the brief, and estimates from the BRFSS are provided in Appendix B.