Feature
Watch the Video, Earn the Credits
Learn how to improve care transitions and prevent avoidable hospital readmissions, and pick up nursing and medical education con-ed credits.
Read more
Uninsured Veterans and Family Members
Who are They and Where Do They Live?
One in 10 of the nation’s 12.5 million nonelderly veterans report either not having health insurance coverage or using Veterans Affairs (VA) health care, according to the 2010 American Community Survey (ACS). This report, prepared by the Urban Institute and released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is the first-ever to provide estimates of uninsurance among veterans and their families both nationally and at the state level, and to assess the potential for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to reduce their uninsurance rates.
Veterans are less likely than the rest of the nonelderly population to be uninsured. Both uninsured veterans and their family members report significantly less access to health care than their counterparts with insurance coverage.
Key Findings:
- An estimated 1.3 million veterans and nearly 950,000 members of their families are uninsured, together making up 4.8 percent of the nation’s 47.3 million uninsured in 2010.
- Forty-one percent of uninsured veterans report having unmet medical needs, while nearly 34 percent have delayed care due to cost.
- Just four states have uninsurance rates below 6 percent—Massachusetts, Hawaii, Vermont, and North Dakota. Meanwhile, four states—Louisiana, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana—have uninsurance rates above 14 percent.
Urban Institute Real Time Policy Analysis
Co-branded "quick strike" series of issue briefs on health care coverage and quality issues in the United States.
View allRecommended Reading
Uninsured Veterans and Family Members
Under the ACA many uninsured veterans and their spouses would be eligible for insurance coverage.