Table 1.
Sample Sizes, Demographics, Health Status, Insurance Coverage, and Use of Any Health Care for Men in MEPS Samples in Any of Nine Years, 1996–2004
| Age Group | Men between 19 and 64 Years Old |
Men 65 Years or Older |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Veteran–VA User Status |
Nonveterans |
Veterans Not in VA Care |
Veterans Using Any VA Care |
Nonveterans |
Veterans Not in VA Care |
Veterans Using Any VA Care |
||||||
| Residence | Urban | Rural | Urban | Rural | Urban | Rural | Urban | Rural | Urban | Rural | Urban | Rural |
| Sample size | ||||||||||||
| Total unique individuals | 25,691 | 6,534 | 4,025 | 1,200 | 1,847 | 623 | 2,087 | 767 | 1,906 | 567 | 1,813 | 707 |
| Average annual sample (SD) | 5,037 | 1,267 | 715 | 211 | 266 | 92 | 396 | 146 | 311 | 88 | 280 | 114 |
| (1,113) | (251) | (150) | (52) | (80) | (29) | (93) | (34) | (86) | (31) | (108) | (43) | |
| Demographics percentages (SE) | ||||||||||||
| Family income <125% of federal poverty level | 9.8 | 14.2 | 4.6 | 6.3 | 12.4 | 17.5 | 14.8 | 19.8 | 6.9 | 8.3 | 9.8 | 14.5 |
| (0.3) | (0.9) | (0.3) | (0.8) | (0.9) | (2.0) | (0.8) | (1.5) | (0.5) | (1.0) | (0.7) | (1.5) | |
| Married currently | 57.7 | 62.5 | 74.6 | 79.3 | 67.2 | 68.2 | 71.3 | 71.4 | 77.2 | 83.9 | 71.3 | 73.6 |
| (0.5) | (1.1) | (0.9) | (1.5) | (1.6) | (2.6) | (1.3) | (2.4) | (1.2) | (1.8) | (1.3) | (2.0) | |
| High school education | 86.0 | 79.0 | 94.1 | 88.8 | 89.5 | 80.4 | 60.5 | 46.3 | 79.3 | 70.8 | 75.1 | 59.9 |
| (0.4) | (0.9) | (0.4) | (1.2) | (0.9) | (2.1) | (1.6) | (2.9) | (1.3) | (2.9) | (2.1) | (2.2) | |
| Race other than white | 45.7 | 40.7 | 37.2 | 31.7 | 49.3 | 41.5 | 49.0 | 43.2 | 31.5 | 26.0 | 47.4 | 44.3 |
| (1.0) | (1.5) | (1.2) | (1.8) | (1.6) | (2.7) | (1.6) | (2.4) | (1.4) | (2.2) | (1.8) | (2.4) | |
| Hispanic | 11.8 | 4.9 | 4.7 | 2.0 | 5.4 | 1.6 | 11.0 | 4.4 | 3.3 | 0.9 | 3.4 | 0.6 |
| (0.6) | (0.9) | (0.5) | (0.5) | (0.7) | (0.5) | (0.9) | (1.2) | (0.5) | (0.4) | (0.5) | (0.2) | |
| Means (SE) | ||||||||||||
| Annual income in dollars | 38,409 | 28,408 | 44,589 | 34,606 | 35,863 | 27,573 | 22,588 | 18,741 | 28,165 | 22,350 | 26,657 | 19,884 |
| (440) | (639) | (723) | (956) | (836) | (1,325) | (632) | (734) | (796) | (903) | (723) | (763) | |
| Age | 39.0 | 40.0 | 49.2 | 49.5 | 51.0 | 51.8 | 74.0 | 74.3 | 73.2 | 73.0 | 74.5 | 74.2 |
| (0.1) | (0.2) | (0.2) | (0.4) | (0.3) | (0.5) | (0.2) | (0.2) | (0.2) | (0.3) | (0.2) | (0.3) | |
| Health status percentages (SE) | ||||||||||||
| Self-rated physical health is fair/poor | 8.6 | 12.6 | 6.5 | 9.2 | 20.7 | 30.4 | 24.2 | 31.6 | 15.1 | 18.0 | 26.6 | 31.0 |
| (0.3) | (0.7) | (0.4) | (1.2) | (1.2) | (2.4) | (1.0) | (2.0) | (0.9) | (1.7) | (1.2) | (2.0) | |
| Self-rated mental health is fair/poor | 4.3 | 6.1 | 2.6 | 2.8 | 9.5 | 10.1 | 9.9 | 14.7 | 4.9 | 6.7 | 8.8 | 9.7 |
| (0.2) | (0.4) | (0.3) | (0.5) | (0.7) | (1.5) | (0.8) | (1.8) | (0.5) | (1.5) | (0.7) | (1.4) | |
| Had diagnoses in >2 clinical classification categories | 29.1 | 32.6 | 34.5 | 36.6 | 52.8 | 54.1 | 62.0 | 68.7 | 59.4 | 60.3 | 78.0 | 75.6 |
| (0.5) | (0.9) | (0.9) | (1.8) | (1.7) | (2.5) | (1.5) | (2.0) | (1.5) | (3.3) | (1.0) | (1.7) | |
| Means (SE) | ||||||||||||
| # Clinical classification categories | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 5.6 | 5.8 | 6.4 | 6.7 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 7.7 | 7.5 |
| (0.0) | (0.1) | (0.1) | (0.1) | (0.1) | (0.2) | (0.1) | (0.2) | (0.1) | (0.2) | (0.1) | (0.2) | |
| Insurance coverage percentages (SE) | ||||||||||||
| Had private insurance | 82.2 | 76.8 | 92.7 | 88.5 | 68.0 | 57.2 | 59.9 | 58.7 | 79.9 | 83.3 | 56.7 | 50.3 |
| (0.5) | (1.1) | (0.5) | (0.9) | (1.5) | (2.4) | (1.5) | (2.1) | (1.1) | (1.7) | (1.3) | (2.4) | |
| Had Medicare | 2.8 | 4.7 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 8.4 | 12.2 | 98.4 | 99.5 | 98.5 | 99.8 | 99.3 | 100 |
| (0.2) | (0.4) | (0.2) | (0.5) | (0.7) | (1.5) | (0.3) | (0.2) | (0.3) | (0.1) | (0.2) | (0.0) | |
| Had Medicaid | 5.9 | 7.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 8.2 | 9.0 | 14.5 | 13.8 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.7 | 4.2 |
| (0.3) | (0.6) | (0.3) | (0.6) | (1.0) | (1.7) | (1.0) | (1.9) | (0.4) | (1.0) | (0.6) | (0.8) | |
| Had other insurance (inc. Public, CHAMPUS, Tricare) | 1.0 | 1.2 | 6.4 | 6.0 | 18.0 | 14.8 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 10.1 | 9.2 |
| (0.1) | (0.2) | (0.5) | (0.9) | (1.6) | (1.9) | (0.5) | (0.6) | (0.5) | (0.9) | (0.9) | (1.3) | |
| Uninsured all year | 11.2 | 14.4 | 4.6 | 7.8 | 14.3 | 19.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| (0.3) | (0.8) | (0.4) | (0.8) | (0.9) | (1.8) | (0.1) | (0.1) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.1) | (0.0) | |
| Percent using any health care | 73.2 | 75.4 | 78.8 | 77.7 | 100 | 100 | 93.3 | 94.3 | 92.9 | 93.0 | 100 | 100 |
| (0.4) | (0.8) | (0.7) | (1.1) | (0.0) | (0.0) | (0.6) | (0.9) | (0.7) | (1.2) | (0.0) | (0.0) | |
| Of men who used any health care, percentage (SE) who had | ||||||||||||
| Any hospitalizations | 4.9 | 7.3 | 4.8 | 6.2 | 15.4 | 15.3 | 17.8 | 20.8 | 13.8 | 13.8 | 23.2 | 27.1 |
| (0.2) | (0.4) | (0.3) | (0.8) | (0.9) | (1.4) | (0.8) | (1.5) | (0.8) | (1.3) | (1.2) | (1.7) | |
| Any OP department visits | 12.4 | 16.0 | 14.2 | 19.4 | 32.3 | 34.8 | 26.3 | 33.0 | 29.9 | 30.7 | 40.9 | 44.1 |
| (0.3) | (0.7) | (0.6) | (1.3) | (1.1) | (2.3) | (1.1) | (2.2) | (1.3) | (2.4) | (1.3) | (2.3) | |
| Any ER visits | 13.9 | 17.6 | 10.7 | 12.1 | 20.7 | 20.2 | 16.1 | 18.0 | 13.0 | 11.1 | 21.1 | 21.7 |
| (0.3) | (0.6) | (0.5) | (0.9) | (0.9) | (1.5) | (0.8) | (1.3) | (0.7) | (1.5) | (1.1) | (1.6) | |
| Any office-based visits | 75.2 | 77.2 | 79.1 | 80.3 | 89.9 | 90.5 | 92.3 | 92.4 | 92.1 | 90.2 | 96.4 | 95.8 |
| (0.3) | (0.6) | (0.6) | (1.2) | (0.7) | (1.3) | (0.6) | (0.9) | (0.7) | (1.3) | (0.4) | (0.7) | |
| Any prescription medicines | 67.5 | 71.7 | 70.5 | 69.3 | 89.7 | 90.4 | 91.4 | 92.3 | 86.8 | 84.2 | 98.1 | 98.1 |
| (0.4) | (0.7) | (0.8) | (1.6) | (0.8) | (1.2) | (0.7) | (1.3) | (0.8) | (2.1) | (0.3) | (0.5) | |
ER, emergency room; MEPS, Medical Expenditures Panel Survey; OP, outpatient.