Please note: This website has recently moved from www.health.gov to odphp.health.gov. www.health.gov is now the official website of ODPHP’s parent organization, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH). Please update your bookmarks for easy access to all our resources. 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Reduce the proportion of people who can't get medical care when they need it — AHS‑04 Data Methodology and Measurement

On this page:  About the National Data  |  Methodology  |  History

About the National Data

Data

Data Source:  National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), CDC/NCHS

Baseline: 8.5 percent of persons were unable to obtain or delayed in obtaining necessary medical care due to cost in 2019

Target: 5.9 percent

Numerator
Number of persons who report not being able to obtain or having delay in obtaining needed medical care due to cost.
Denominator
Number of persons.
Target-setting method
Percentage point improvement
Target-setting method details
Percentage point improvement from the baseline using Cohen's h effect size of 0.10.
Target-setting method justification
Trend data were not available for this objective. A percentage point improvement was calculated using Cohen's h effect size of 0.1. The Healthy People 2030 Workgroup Subject Matter Experts viewed this as an ambitious yet achievable target.

Methodology

Questions used to obtain the national baseline data

(For additional information, please visit the data source page linked above.)
Numerator:
During the past 12 months, have you DELAYED getting medical care because of the cost?
  1. YES
  2. NO
  3. REFUSED
  4. DON'T KNOW
During the past 12 months, was there any time when you needed medical care, but DID NOT GET IT because of the cost?
  1. YES
  2. NO
  3. REFUSED
  4. DON'T KNOW

History

Comparable HP2020 objective
Related, which includes objectives that have the same or a similar intent to either a measurable or developmental/archived objective in HP2020.
Revision History
  • Revised. 

    In 2022, the data source was changed from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to the National Health Interview Survey. The baseline was revised from 4.1% in 2017 to 8.5% in 2019. The target setting method was changed from projection to percentage point improvement and the target was revised from 3.3% to 5.9%.
  • Revised. 

    In 2024, the following categories were recalculated with the use of a newer variable: Never married, American Indian or Alaska Native only, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only, 2 or more races only, Not Hispanic or Latino American Indian or Alaska Native only, Not Hispanic or Latino Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander only, Not Hispanic or Latino 2 or more races only. Estimates from data year 2022 or earlier may vary slightly from estimates previously reported. The baseline, baseline year and target were not affected.