Health Service Access, Use, and Insurance Coverage Among American Indians/Alaska Natives and Whites: What Role Does the Indian Health Service Play?
Stephen Zuckerman, PhD,
Jennifer Haley, MA,
Yvette Roubideaux, MD, MPH and
Marsha Lillie-Blanton, DrPH
Stephen Zuckerman and Jennifer Haley are with the Urban Institute, Health Policy Center, Washington, DC. Yvette Roubideaux is with the College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tuscon. Marsha Lillie-Blanton is with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, DC.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Stephen Zuckerman, Health Policy Center, Urban Institute, 2100 M St, NW, Washington, DC 20037 (e-mail: szuckerm{at}ui.urban.org).
Objectives. We compared access and utilization of health servicesamong American Indians/Alaska Natives (AIANs) with that amongnon-Hispanic Whites.
Methods. We used data from the 1997 and 1999 National Surveyof Americas Families to estimate odds ratios for severalmeasures of access and utilization and the effects of IndianHealth Service (IHS) coverage.
Results. AIANs had less insurance coverage and worse accessand utilization than Whites. Over half of low-income uninsuredAIANs did not have access to the IHS. However, among the low-incomepopulation, AIANs with only IHS access fared better than uninsuredAIANs and as well as insured Whites for key measures but receivedless preventive care.
Conclusions. The IHS partially offsets lack of insurance forsome uninsured AIANs, but important needs were potentially unmet.
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