Do working-age adults with managed care have better access to health care?
Robin A. Cohen, PhD, John R. Pleis, BS, Barbara Bloom, MPA, and Gloria A Simpson, MA. Division of Health Interview Statistics, National Center for Health Statistics, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 860, Hyattsville, MD 20782, 301-458-4152, RZC6@cdc.gov In 1997, over 30 million working-age adults (ages 18-64) reported having unmet health needs. Typically, there is a gradient effect whereby individuals at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale have less access to a usual source of care, lower levels of utilization when health status is taken into account, and higher levels of unmet medical need. This paper uses the 1997 National Health Interview Survey to explore the relationship between access to health care and managed care (MC) for working-age adults with private insurance as well as those persons covered by Medicaid. MC increased the proportion of privately insured working-age adults with a usual source of medical care from 85 percent (Fee-for-Service) to 92 percent. Persons with private