Table 2.
Patient Characteristics
| No choice* (n 2989) | Choice* (n = 1532) |
P value | Interview participants % (N) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age years, mean | 50.9 | 52.3 | 0.10 | 54.7 |
| Age, % | 0.57 | |||
| ≤ 35 | 15.4 | 12.9 | 6.7 (4) | |
| > 35 to ≤ 45 | 12.2 | 11.4 | 10.0 (6) | |
| > 45 to ≤ 55 | 25.6 | 24.0 | 28.3 (17) | |
| > 55 | 46.9 | 51.7 | 55.0 (33) | |
| Gender, % | < 0.001 | |||
| Female | 7.8 | 14.3 | 41.7 (25) | |
| Male | 92.0 | 85.7 | 58.3 (35) | |
| Other | 0.2 | 0.03 | ||
| Race, % | ||||
| White | 78.8 | 77.7 | 0.78 | 95.0 (57) |
| African American | 18.9 | 18.2 | 0.79 | 5.0 (3) |
| Other | 2.5 | 4.0 | 0.01 | 6.7 (4) |
| Missing | 3.0 | 4.0 | 0.79 | 0 |
| Hispanic ethnicity, % | 0.06 | |||
| Hispanic ethnicity | 2.3 | 2.3 | 0 | |
| Ethnicity missing | 4.4 | 1.6 | 0 | |
| Enrollment priority, % | 0.38 | |||
| High disability | 23.5 | 25.2 | 31.7 (19) | |
| Low/moderate disability | 26.0 | 22.3 | 21.7 (13) | |
| Low income | 34.6 | 32.9 | 33.3 (20) | |
| Non-disabled, copayment required | 15.9 | 19.7 | 13.3 (8) | |
| Years enrolled in VA, mean | 9.5 | 10.1 | 0.05 | |
| Education, % | 0.35 | |||
| High school or less | 26.5 | 23.5 | 18.3 (11) | |
| Associate’s degree | 14.3 | 16.4 | 13.3 (8) | |
| Some college or technical school | 34.6 | 36.9 | 40.0 (24) | |
| Bachelor’s degree or higher | 21.0 | 21.7 | 28.3 (17) | |
| Missing | 3.7 | 1.5 | ||
| Marital status, % | 0.22 | |||
| Married | 42 | 41.0 | 46.7 (28) | |
| Not married | 53.6 | 56.9 | 53.3 (32) | |
| Missing | 4.3 | 2.2 | ||
| Number of children, % | 0.91 | |||
| 0 | 56.5 | 57.7 | 65.0 (39) | |
| 1 | 17.2 | 16.7 | 10.0 (6) | |
| 2 | 12.4 | 10.8 | 13.3 (8) | |
| > 2 | 9.0 | 9.1 | 10.0 (6) | |
| Missing | 5.0 | 5.8 | 1.7 (1) | |
| Distance to nearest VA facility miles, mean | 20.5 | 22.0 | 0.31 | 28.2 |
| Distance to nearest VA facility, % | 0.04 | |||
| < 5 miles | 36.1 | 27.0 | 23.3 (14) | |
| ≥ 5 to < 20 miles | 27.6 | 34.7 | 25.0 (15) | |
| ≥ 20 to < 40 miles | 18.1 | 21.0 | 25.0 (15) | |
| ≥ 40 to < 60 miles | 9.6 | 8.7 | 25.0 (15) | |
| ≥ 60 miles | 8.2 | 8.2 | 13.3 (8) | |
| Missing | 0.4 | 0.4 | 13.3 (8) | |
| Distance to nearest Medicare facility miles, mean | 8.1 | 8.5 | 0.20 | 10.8 |
| Distance to nearest Medicare facility, % | < 0.001 | |||
| < 5 miles | 44.9 | 33.8 | 25.0 (15) | |
| ≥ 5 to < 20 miles | 48.3 | 61.4 | 63.3 (38) | |
| ≥ 20 to < 40 miles | 6.4 | 4.4 | 11.7 (7) | |
| ≥ 40 to < 60 miles | 0.01 | 0.04 | ||
| ≥ 60 miles | 0 | 0 | ||
| Missing | 0.4 | 0.4 | ||
| Rural, % | 28.2 | 34.4 | 0.06 | 55.00 (33) |
| Household income, % | 0.32 | |||
| <$10,000 | 15.9 | 13.1 | 18.3 (11) | |
| $10,001 to $50,000 | 60.1 | 65.8 | 55.0 (33) | |
| >$50,000 | 18.1 | 13.4 | 26.7 (16) | |
| Missing | 5.9 | 7.7 | ||
| Non-VA Insurance in 2015, % | ||||
| None | 64.2 | 67.6 | 0.36 | 30.0 (18) |
| Private insurance (group) | 14.7 | 11.3 | 0.15 | 16.7 (10) |
| Tricare | 8.6 | 7.1 | 0.36 | 16.7 (10) |
| Medicare | 5.5 | 5.2 | 0.82 | 8.3 (5) |
| Medicaid | 5.2 | 4.5 | 0.55 | 23.3 (14) |
| Other | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.19 | 1.7 (1) |
| Private insurance (individual) | 1.7 | 4.5 | 0.21 | 6.7 (4) |
| Insurance due to ACA | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.74 | 15.0 (9) |
| Unknown | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.87 | 0 |
| Hierarchical condition category risk score quartiles | 0.01 | |||
| 1 | 33.4 | 23.1 | 11.7 (7) | |
| 2 | 24.5 | 29.0 | 31.7 (19) | |
| 3 | 26.4 | 26.9 | 26.7 (16) | |
| 4 | 15.7 | 21.1 | 30.0 (18) | |
*Percents have been weighted to adjust for sample design and non-response