Country: United States
Survey Organization: Social Science Research Solutions
Field Dates: September 10 to October 5, 2014
Sample: Nationally representative sample of 2,751 adults ages 19 to 64
Sample Size: Overall 1,127 interviews were conducted with respondents on landline telephones and 1,624 interviews were conducted on cellular phones, including 1,012 with respondents who live in households with no landline telephone
access.
Interview Method: The data are weighted to adjust for the fact that not all survey respondents were selected with
the same probabilities, the overlapping landline and cellular phone samples, and disproportionate nonresponse that might bias results. Data are weighted to the U.S. 19-to-64 adult population by age, race, gender, region, marital status, education, and population density, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2014 March Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS) and household
telephone use using the CDC’s National Health Interview Survey. The resulting weighted sample is representative of the approximately 190.7 million U.S. adults ages 19 to 64.
The survey has an overall margin of sampling error of +/–2.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level. The landline portion of the survey achieved a 9.9 percent response rate and the cellular phone sample achieved a 5.7 percent response rate. The overall response rate was 7.3 percent.
Whether they have health insurance through an employer or buy it on their own, Americans are paying more out-of-pocket for health care now than they did in the past decade. A Commonwealth Fund survey fielded in the fall of 2014 asked consumers about these costs. More than one of five 19-to-64-year-old adults who were insured all year spent 5 percent or more of their income on out-of-pocket costs, not including premiums, and 13 percent spent 10 percent or more. Adults with low incomes had the highest rates of steep out-of-pocket costs. About three of five privately insured adults with low incomes and half of those with moderate incomes reported that their deductibles are difficult to afford. Two of five adults with private insurance who had high deductibles relative to their income said they had delayed needed care because of the deductible.
