Date of Award

5-2025

Degree Type

Report

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Economics and Finance

Committee Chair(s)

Chris Fawson (Committee chair)

Committee

Chris Fawson

Committee

Briggs Depew

Committee

Lucas Rentschler

Abstract

This study investigates whether known demographic groups report poorer health status even after adjusting for health insurance. Research analyzes the factors that correlate with poor reported health status and demographic markers associated with inequitable healthcare access. Sealy-Jefferson et al. (2015) explores the rate of health insurance as a primary mechanism to mitigate the financial risk of accessing health care, but significant racial and ethnic health disparities continue to exist among insured populations.

This study uses pooled cross-sectional data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2019 to 2023 and simple linear regression models to examine the relationship between demographic characteristics including age, years of education, and metropolitan residence, and health outcomes among insured individuals. The analysis shows that higher education levels and urban residence positively correlate with better reported health outcomes, but health insurance does not significantly mitigate health disparities across racial and ethnic groups. When accounting for the interaction of insurance coverage and racial ethnicity on reported health status our research suggests other factors such as provider network inadequacies, cultural barriers, moral hazard, and economic burdens from cost sharing, may be driving negative correlations. This analysis shows the complexity of health disparities and suggests that health insurance coverage by itself is not sufficient to achieve health equity.

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