Access to Care Consequences of Family Structure

• In Event: 3552 - Health Policy

Abstract

Family structure and living arrangements are considered in the configuration of health insurance coverage status within families, which in turn acts as an enabling factor in access to health care, net of individual coverage. This paper explores the consequences of family structure on access to care, as filtered through health policy in the United States. Policies that shape health insurance preference normative family arrangements while straining the informal care and resource management functions of other families. Using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data, families are characterized based on the uniformity of members' insurance status. Families insuring all members through the same plan(s) are differentiated from those insuring all members through a patchwork of different plans. While fewer people were personally uninsured, many (over 83m) were exposed to uninsurance through familial ties. Patterns in family health insurance status are explored along with their impact on perceived and realized access to health care.

Author

• Diane S. Shinberg, Indiana University of Pennsylvania