The American Community Survey and health insurance coverage estimates: possibilities and challenges for health policy researchers
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 27, 2026

Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (Propensity Score) using the Military Health System Data Repository and National Death Index
Published on: January 8, 2020
Michael Davern1, Brian C Quinn, Genevieve M Kenney
1Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health, SHADAC-University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA. daver004@umn.edu
Objective:
To introduce the American Community Survey (ACS) and its measure of health insurance coverage to researchers and policy makers.
Data Sources/Study Setting:
We compare the survey designs for the ACS and Current Population Survey (CPS) that measure insurance coverage.
Study Design:
We describe the ACS and how it will be useful to health policy researchers.
Principal Findings:
Relative to the CPS, the ACS will provide more precise state and substate estimates of health insurance coverage at a point-in-time. Yet the ACS lacks the historical data and detailed state-specific coverage categories seen in the CPS.
Conclusions:
The ACS will be a critical new resource for researchers. To use the new data to the best advantage, careful research will be needed to understand its strengths and weaknesses.
More Related Videos
11:21Methodology for Establishing a Community-Wide Life Laboratory for Capturing Unobtrusive and Continuous Remote Activity and Health Data
Published on: July 27, 2018
14:43A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Introduction To Health Care Delivery System
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) advocates for a patient-centered, effective, safe, timely, equitable, and effective healthcare system. The National Priorities...
Surveys
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
Issues And Trends In Healthcare Delivery System
Cost Containment
Payment for healthcare services has historically promoted adoption of costly and often unnecessary or inefficient...
Health Information Technology and Healthcare Information System
Health Information Technology, commonly called HIT, integrates advanced information systems and technology in healthcare settings. Its primary functions include:
What are Estimates?
The estimate for the mean of a sample is denoted by ͞x, whereas the mean of the population is designated as μ. Further, parameters such as the mean,...