Characteristics Associated With Different Cross-Sectional Family Usual Source of Care (USC) Patterns for US Children Aged 0 to 17 Years Living With at Least 1 Parent, 2002–2007
| Cross-Sectional Family USC Patterns: 4 Groups (Does Not Account for Discordant Parent Status) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | All Children | USC: Yes Child/Yes Parent(s) | USC: Yes Child/No Parent | USC: No Child/Yes Parent(s) | USC: No Child/No Parent |
| No. in samplea | 56,302 | 41,254 | 8,487 | 1,629 | 4,932 |
| Household income group, % FPLb,c | |||||
| >400% | 28.8 | 31.9 | 18.5 | 18.9 | 15.0 |
| 200% to <400% | 33.1 | 34.4 | 26.7 | 34.0 | 29.4 |
| 125% to <200% | 15.8 | 14.6 | 19.4 | 22.1 | 21.5 |
| 100% to <125% | 5.4 | 4.7 | 7.7 | 7.3 | 8.3 |
| <100% | 17.0 | 14.5 | 27.7 | 17.8 | 25.7 |
| Child’s age, y, %b | |||||
| 0–4 | 27.4 | 26.7 | 39.5 | 12.9 | 17.7 |
| 5–9 | 27.4 | 27.5 | 28.7 | 18.7 | 26.0 |
| 10–13 | 22.4 | 22.6 | 18.8 | 23.7 | 25.3 |
| 14–17 | 22.9 | 23.2 | 12.9 | 44.7 | 31.0 |
| Child’s race/ethnicity, %b,d | |||||
| White, non-Hispanic | 58.9 | 63.1 | 46.1 | 44.9 | 38.1 |
| Hispanic, any race | 19.7 | 16.5 | 29.4 | 25.6 | 37.0 |
| Nonwhite, non-Hispanic | 21.4 | 20.4 | 24.5 | 29.5 | 25.0 |
| Family composition, %b,e | |||||
| 1 Parent in household | 26.2 | 23.5 | 38.6 | 24.7 | 36.8 |
| 2 Parents in household | 73.8 | 76.6 | 61.4 | 75.3 | 63.2 |
| At least 1 parent completed high school, % | |||||
| Yes | 85.9 | 88.6 | 77.9 | 78.2 | 71.9 |
| No | 14.1 | 11.4 | 22.1 | 21.8 | 28.1 |
| Geographic residence, %b | |||||
| Northeast | 17.5 | 19.8 | 10.3 | 8.2 | 6.9 |
| West | 24.4 | 23.3 | 25.4 | 28.6 | 33.4 |
| South | 35.9 | 33.0 | 47.6 | 45.8 | 45.4 |
| Midwest | 22.2 | 23.9 | 16.7 | 17.4 | 14.3 |
| Child’s insurance status, %b | |||||
| Full year insured | 81.8 | 85.7 | 76.9 | 64.1 | 50.9 |
| Insurance gap | 11.4 | 9.2 | 16.4 | 18.5 | 24.6 |
| Full year uninsured | 6.8 | 5.1 | 6.6 | 17.4 | 24.6 |
| Parent’s insurance status, %b | |||||
| Insured all year (at least 1 parent) | 75.6 | 82.1 | 51.6 | 68.8 | 45.4 |
| Not insured all year | 24.4 | 17.9 | 48.5 | 31.2 | 54.6 |
| Child health status, %b | |||||
| Excellent/very good | 82.3 | 83.3 | 78.5 | 82.5 | 78.2 |
| Good/fair/poor | 17.7 | 16.7 | 21.5 | 17.5 | 21.8 |
FPL = federal poverty level; MEPS-HC = Medical Expenditure Panel Survey-Household Component.
Source: 2002–2007 MEPS-HC.
Note: Column percentages are weighted and may not equal 100% because of rounding (rounded to nearest 10th). P <.05 in χ3 test comparisons of overall differences between subgroups of each covariate and insurance patterns.
↵a Unweighted counts represent total number of children, aged 0–17 years, from MEPS-HC respondent households with a positive person weight who could be linked to at least 1 parent within the household. Total counts do not include 2,049 children with no parent identified in the household; cross-sectional total also excludes 437 children for whom self or parental USC status could not be ascertained.
↵b To derive yearly population estimates, each child record from MEPS-HC was weighted according to person-level weights provided by the data collection agency.
↵c Household income groups were based on MEPS-HC–constructed variable that divides families into 5 income groups based on earnings as a percentage of federal poverty level (FPL), and in 2007, the federal poverty level for a family of 4 was $20,650.37
↵d Child’s race/ethnicity based on responses to standard options provided by MEPS-HC interviewers. We created 1 child race/ethnicity variable by combining a race variable (which included white only, black only, American Indian/Alaskan Native only, Asian only, native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander only, and multiple races) and an ethnicity variable (which included Hispanic, or not Hispanic).
↵e Family composition refers to whether the child could be linked to 1 parent (n = 17,612) or 2 parents (n = 38,690) residing in the same household (does not account for biological relationship between parent and child or the marriage status between the 2 parents).