Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108H EALT H 28 Tbl. 1-2 insurance COVERAGE, by marital status and work status: 2002 Not Married Married Not Covered Covered Neither Covered One Covered Both Covered Ages 55-64, Working for Pay White/Other 10.4% 89.7% 2.0% 3.9% 94.2% Black 17.3 82.7 1.3 11.1 87.6 Hispanic 35.6 64.4 15.3 12.5 72.2 Ages 55-64, Not Working for Pay White/Other 12.7 87.3 2.8 6.5 90.8 Black 11.8 88.2 4.2 14.1 81.7 Hispanic 30.9 69.1 16.1 12.7 71.2 Age 65 and Over White/Other 0.5 99.5 0.1 1.4 98.5 Black 1.1 98.9 0.6 6.9 92.6 Hispanic 2.7 97.3 1.3 9.0 89.7 Note: Coverage refers to public and/or private insurance. FIG. 1-6 insurance coverage for persons ageS 55-64, by race/ethnicity: 2002 (Percent with each type) White Black Hispanic Public Private None 0% 10% 20% 30% 60% 40% 50% 70% 80% used to examine the implications of insurance status for health in later life. Baker et al. (2001) assessed the risks of a major decline in general health and the risks of developing new difficulties according to whether HRS respondents were continuously uninsured, intermittently uninsured, or continuously insured between 1992 and 1996. Continuously uninsured individuals were 63 percent more likely than privately insured people to experience a deterioration of overall health and 23 percent more likely to have new difficulties with an activity of daily living involving mobility. Sudano and Baker (2003) found that intermittent lack of insurance coverage, even across a relatively long period, was associated 4 pre-Medicare-age Hispanic respondents has no health insurance, compared with roughly 1 in 8 Blacks and 1 in 14 Whites. A further breakout of these data illustrates differences between married and unmarried individuals (Table 1-2). Regardless of age and work status, unmarried respondents are more likely than their married counterparts to be without insurance. Among married Black and Hispanic couples, a significant proportion of households have coverage for only one member of the couple. In addition to comparing people with differing health insurance status, the HRS data have been Health Care Coverage The HRS can be used to assess health care coverage among pre-retirees and retirees and to examine the ways in which changes in health insurance policy can affect retirement decisions and labor market participation as a whole. Of particular interest are people ages 55 to 64, most of whom are not yet eligible for Medicare. Figure 1-6 depicts racial/ethnic differences in types of health insurance coverage for this age group in 2002, indicating that Blacks and Hispanics are much less likely than Whites to have private health insurance, and hence are more likely to rely on public sources. About 1 in