Health Insurance Coverage Among Veterans Receiving Care From VA Health Care Facilities

Kevin T. Stroupe*, Rachael Martinez, Timothy P. Hogan, Elisa J. Gordon, Beverly Gonzalez, Elizabeth Tarlov, Abigail Silva, Zhiping Huo, Ibuola Kale, Dolores Ippolito, Chad Osteen, Neil Jordan, Dustin D. French, Howard Gordon, Michael J. Fischer, Bridget M. Smith

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Reasons for acquiring insurance outside Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care coverage among VA enrollees are incompletely understood. To assess Veterans’ decision-making and acquisition of non-VA health care insurance in the Affordable Care Act era, we used mailed questionnaires and semistructured interviews in a stratified random sample of VA enrollees <65 years in the Midwest. Of the 3,666 survey participants, 32.1% reported non-VA insurance. Frequently reported reasons included wanting coverage for emergency situations or family members. Those without non-VA insurance cited unaffordability as the main obstacle. Analysis of the semistructured interview data revealed similar findings. In multivariable logistic regression analyses, characteristics associated with non-VA insurance included higher income (>$50,000 vs. <$10,000, odds ratio [OR] = 5.95, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.45–10.3, p <.001). As financial barriers exist for acquisition of non-VA insurance and hence community care, it is critically important that VA enrollees’ health care needs are met through VA or community providers financed through VA.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)511-524
Number of pages14
JournalMedical Care Research and Review
Volume79
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2022

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Research and Development, Health Services Research and Development Service project IIR 14-069-2.

Keywords

  • Affordable Care Act
  • health policy
  • insurance
  • mixed methods
  • veterans affairs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Health Insurance Coverage Among Veterans Receiving Care From VA Health Care Facilities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this