Health Insurance Coverage Trends, 1959–2007: Estimates from the National Health Interview Survey

An extensive body of literature shows that lack of health insurance coverage negatively affects both access to health care and health status (1). Almost 44 million persons in the United
States lacked health insurance coverage at a point in time during 2008 (2). Interest in addressing this longstanding problem has recently intensified. The development of programs and policies to extend coverage to the uninsured requires accurate and timely information on the number of persons who lack health insurance coverage and on the number with different types of coverage.