The American Community Survey and Health Insurance Coverage Estimates: Possibilities and Challenges for Health Policy Researchers

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the American Community Survey (ACS) and its measure of health insurance coverage to researchers and policy makers. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: We compare the survey designs for the ACS and Current Population Survey (CPS) that measure insurance coverage. STUDY DESIGN: We describe the ACS and how it will be useful to health policy researchers. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Relative to the CPS, the ACS will provide more precise state and substate estimates of health insurance coverage at a point-in-time. Yet the ACS lacks the historical data and detailed state-specific coverage categories seen in the CPS. CONCLUSIONS: The ACS will be a critical new resource for researchers. To use the new data to the best advantage, careful research will be needed to understand its strengths and weaknesses.