Description

INCLUGH indicates whether the respondent was included (i.e., was a policyholder) in a group health insurance plan related to a job that person held during the previous calendar year.

For 1980-1987, interviewers asked adult civilians who had worked during the previous year whether they were included in a group health insurance plan for any job held during the previous calendar year. For 1988 forward, the persons asked about employment-based insurance were adults who reported having private (i.e., nongovernmental) insurance coverage in their own names during the previous calendar year.

Interviewers asked about insurance coverage during the previous calendar year that was obtained through "a current or former employer or union." Hypothetically, for 1988 forward, respondents who did not work during the previous year might report such coverage, if they had maintained coverage initially obtained through a job or union.

Comparability

User Note: For a set of variables that addresses many of the comparability issues in the CPS health insurance measures, see the summary health insurance variables created by the University of Minnesota's State Health Access Data Assistance Center.

Along with changes in the question universe, the placement of the question (relative to other insurance-related questions) and the question wording changed over time.

For 1980-1987, interviewers asked if the person was "included in a group health insurance plan on the/any job he/she held" during the preceding calendar year, but did not confirm whether the person was the policyholder for such employment-based insurance. Questions about insurance coverage from governmental and all "other" sources followed the query related to INCLUGH.

For 1988-1994, interviewers first asked about government-sponsored insurance. The preface to the INCLUGH question for these years referred to insurance coverage "other than Medicare, Medicaid, or military health care" or "obtained privately or through a current or former employer or union." Individuals were asked whether such non-governmental insurance was from a plan in the individual's own name, and, finally, "Was this health insurance offered through [person's] former or current employer or union?"

Beginning in 1995, the inquiry related to INCLUGH began the series of questions related to insurance coverage. Interviewers asked, "At any time in [previous calendar year], was anyone in this household covered by a health insurance plan provided through their current or former employer or union? (Military health insurance will be covered later in another question.) Who in this household were policyholders?" Questions about privately-purchased non-employment-based coverage and various government-sponsored insurance programs followed the information-gathering about employment-based insurance coverage.

Beginning in 1996, GRPOWNLY also identifies persons who were policyholders for employment-based insurance during the previous calendar year. For persons with a positive response in INCLUGH, PAIDGH reports whether the employer or union paid for all, part, or none of the individual's employment-based group health insurance coverage.

Universe

Flags

Unharmonized Variables

• UH_HIEMP_A1
• UH_ZHIEMP_A1