Table 2.

Characteristics of currently uninsured individuals expected to be income eligible for Medicaid and current Medicaid enrollees, both with household incomes ≤138% of the federal poverty level^a

	Uninsured and future income eligible (N=5,049)		Currently enrolled in Medicaid (N=3,809)b
Characteristic	N	%	N	%	p
Age					<.13
20–25	2,877	21.0	2,060	20.8
20–25	2,877	21.0	2,060	20.8
26–34	946	25.3	827	29.4
35–49	979	35.7	728	34.3
50–64	247	18.0	194	15.5
Female	2,714	52.2	3,004	72.3	<.01
Childless	2,769	52.3	1,059	34.5	<.01
Employed	2,913	55.8	1,570	37.7	<.01
Married	1,495	40.1	914	28.9	<.01
Education					<.20
Less than high school	1,987	41.8	1,377	40.6
High school	1,727	34.1	1,580	36.7
Some college	1,335	24.1	852	22.7
Fair or poor health status	750	19.7	720	27.2	<.01
Any current substance use disorderc	837	14.6	496	11.5	.03
Substance dependence	520	9.3	348	8.2	.38
Substance abuse	317	5.4	148	3.3	<.01
Substance use treatment needd	964	17.8	597	14.7	.04
Serious psychological distress	906	14.1	892	24.1	<.01
Co-occurring disorders (current substance use disorder and serious psychological distress)	291	4.2	217	4.7	.47

^aSource: National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2008–2009. Ns are unweighted and percentages are weighted to make estimates representative of the noninstitutionalized population. The income eligibility threshold reflects 133% of the federal poverty level provided in the Affordable Care Act plus a 5% income “disregard” allowed by the law.

^bIndividuals reporting both Medicare and Medicaid coverage were not included as current Medicaid enrollees.

^cIncludes both alcohol or illicit drug abuse or dependence. Individuals with symptoms of both dependence and abuse were coded as dependent.

^dIncludes individuals with a current substance use disorder as well as those with no current substance use disorder who received substance use disorder treatment in the past 12 months. Thus this group includes some individuals with no current dependence or abuse.