Who Are the Underinsured?

Data from the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey, applied under various concepts of risk and expense, reveal that over a quarter of the nonelderly population is inadequately protected against the possibility of large medical bills.

Abstract

Inadequate insurance, whether private or public, can impose ruinous private hardship and unexpected public burdens. "Who are the underinsured?" is both a definitional and an empirical question. Data from the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey, applied under various concepts of risk and expense, reveal that over a quarter of the nonelderly population is inadequately protected against the possibility of large medical bills. The private burdens of the underinsured are widely distributed across the population.