Researchers from University of Minnesota Describe Findings in Health and Society (Factors Associated With Accurate Reporting of Public and Private Health Insurance Type): Health and Medicine – Health and Society

2021 OCT 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on Health and Medicine - Health and Society are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting originating from Minneapolis, Minnesota, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To examine factors associated with accurate reporting of private and public health insurance coverage. Minnesota health plan enrollment records provided the sample for the Comparing Health Insurance Measurement Error (CHIME) study, a survey conducted in 2015 that randomly assigned enrollees to treatments that included health insurance questions from the American Community Survey (ACS) or the redesigned Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS).”

Funders for this research include Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE), U.S. Census Bureau, State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the University of Minnesota, “Reverse record check study that compared CHIME study survey responses to enrollment records of coverage type (direct purchase on and off the Marketplace, Medicaid, or MinnesotaCare), service use, subsidy receipt, and duration of coverage from a major insurer. Data collection methods Using matched enrollment and CHIME survey data and logistic regression, we examined correlates of accurate insurance type reporting, including characteristics of the insurance coverage, the covered individual, respondent, and family. Principal findings Reporting accuracy across treatment and coverage type is high (77%-84%). As with past research, accurate reporting of public insurance is higher for people with characteristics consistent with eligibility for public insurance for both survey treatments. For the ACS treatment, reports of direct purchase insurance are more accurate for enrollees who receive a premium subsidy. Given the complexity of health insurance measurement and frequently changing policy environment, differences in reporting accuracy across treatments or coverage types are not surprising. Several results have important implications for data editing and modeling routines. First, adding premium and subsidy questions in federal surveys should prove useful given the finding that subsidy receipt is associated with reporting accuracy. Second, across both survey treatments, people whose opportunity structures (race, ethnicity, and income) match public program eligibility are accurate reporters of this coverage.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This evidence supports using these commonly collected demographic variables in simulation, imputation, and editing routines.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Factors Associated With Accurate Reporting of Public and Private Health Insurance Type. Health Services Research, 2021. Health Services Research can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Health Services Research - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1475-6773)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Kathleen Thiede Call, University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, 420 Delaware St S.E., Mmc 729, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States. Additional authors for this research include Angela R. Fertig and Joanne Pascale.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13874. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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