SIPP_AttachmentF_HealthCoverageandDisability_Brochure_090121

Health Coverage
and Disability

Why Measure Health
Coverage and Disability?
Our health matters when it comes to taking
care of our family and making ends meet.
That means that we need to understand
families’ experiences with health, disability,
and access to health care to know how well
people and families are doing.

Survey of Income and Program Participation

In order for the country to know what is
needed—how people are doing and where
they need help—we must conduct surveys
such as the SIPP to produce that information.

How the Census Bureau
protects your family’s
information.

Because our country is so populous (over
300 million people), we can only survey a
scientific sample of the whole population.
Thus, your answers to this survey represent
thousands of Americans!

The U.S. Census Bureau is required by federal
law to protect the information you provide.
All personally identifiable information about
your household is removed during processing,
so that the information you provide can be
used to inform policies and programs without
compromising your right to privacy.

Americans work hard every day, through
triumphs and struggles. By studying our
successes and setbacks, we can help our
nation make informed decisions. By law, all
personal information collected for this study
is kept strictly confidential.
Thank you for participating in this survey, and
for helping to represent our nation’s most
important asset…

People Just Like You.

Mission and Purpose
Data from the Survey of Income and Program
Participation (SIPP) are used to evaluate:

• Changes in income.
• Movement into and out of government
assistance programs.

• Changes in family composition and social

conditions for individuals and households.

• Changes in health, health insurance

coverage, and access to health care for
people and families.

For more information, visit the SIPP website at
.

Issued September 2020
Connect with us
@uscensusbureau

Health Insurance Coverage

Health Care

Disability

SIPP contains a wealth of information on
health insurance coverage.

SIPP measures how much people spend on
health care and how much health care they
receive. For people (aged 1 year and older) in
2016

SIPP also measures disability is defined as
reporting at least one of the following six
types of disability: difficulty hearing, difficulty
seeing, cognitive difficulty, ambulatory
difficulty, self-care difficulty, independent
living difficulty, including work-limiting
disability:

• In 2016, 91.3 percent of people had

health insurance coverage for at least
part of the year.

• Health insurance was held by 98.4

percent of adults aged 65 and over, and
94.3 percent of children (see Figure 1).

Percentage of the Population Covered by
Health Insurance in 2016 by Age
Percent
100

98.4

94.3

percent) had an overnight stay in the
hospital.

• Over half of people (51.3 percent) took
prescription medication.

• On average, children had 3.4 visits to

a medical provider, while young adults
(aged 19 to 25) had 3.2 visits. Older
adults (aged 65 and older) saw their
provider more often, averaging 7.8 visits.

88.7

86.3

90

• Less than 10 percent of people (8.4

• In 2017, 18.6 percent of people had a

disability, and 6.9 percent of children under
age 15 had a disability.1

• Among adults aged 15 to 70, 14.4 percent
had a work–limiting disability.

• There were 10.7 million adults aged 15

and older who were employed and had a
disability.

• Hearing difficulty was more common

8076.7

50

among men—affecting 5.4 percent of
adult men between 15 and 70 years old,
compared to 3.6 percent of women in this
age group.

40

• Compared to men aged 15 to 70, a higher

70
60

30
20

Average Number of Visits to a Medical
Provider in 2016 by Age

10
0

0–18
years

19–25
years

26–64
years

65
years or
more

Average
10

Age

7.8

8
6

Any type of disabilty

Difficulty dressing
or bathing

5.1
3.4

Male
Female

Difficulty hearing

3.2

Difficulty concentrating,
remembering, or making
decisions

2
0

Percentage of Adults Between Ages 15
and 70 With a Disability in 2017 by Sex

Difficulty doing
errands alone

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 Survey of Income and
Program Participation Panel.

4

percentage of women in this age group had
difficulty doing errands alone, dressing or
bathing, and walking or climbing stairs.

Difficulty seeing

0–18
years

19–25
years

26–64
years

65
years or
more

Age
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 Survey of Income and
Program Participation Panel.

Difficulty walking
or climbing stairs
0

5

10
15
Percent

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014 Survey of Income and
Program Participation Panel.

20