An Examination of Static and Dynamic Aspects of Uninsurance in Texas

Xiuhong You, University of Texas at San Antonio
Lloyd Potter, University of Texas at San Antonio
Steve White, University of Texas at San Antonio

Discussions of America's health care delivery system often center on the number of uninsured or the rates of uninsurance among certain demographic groups. Though the consequences of health uninsurance are important, it is difficult to gauge the magnitude of this problem. Most of our information comes from national cross-sectional surveys that use different designs and methodologies (SHADAC 2011). The interpretation of uninsurance rates requires an understanding of the reference period. In an attempt to address this we compare and contrast dynamic measures of health uninsurance to static measures of health uninsurance; and, we develop a small-area measurement of health uninsurance that incorporates dynamic and static indicators. Toward these ends, we compare the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) results to cross-sectional uninsurance rates, we analyze spells of uninsurance using data from the SIPP, then we apply these findings to Texas counties and discuss the implications for health insurance policy.