Codes

This variable is not available for any of the currently selected samples.

Description

MILVALW identifies persons who reported health insurance coverage, during the previous week, from Military Health Care or the Veterans Administration. Military Health Care provides medical care on military bases to current armed forces members and their dependents. Medical care from the VA is available to honorably discharged veterans who either have a service connected illness, injury, or disability, or whose incomes are near or below poverty.

MILVALW is one of a series of variables relating to current insurance coverage included in the CPS during 1996 and 1997 only. Interviewers first asked whether the individual was covered by any type of health plan during the previous week. If the answer was affirmative, they asked whether current insurance coverage was of the same type as coverage during the previous year, and then collected information on up to five types of health insurance coverage for the previous week.

Persons covered by any insurance (regardless of type) during the previous week are identified in COVERLW. Other variables dealing with health insurance coverage of specific types during the previous week are: CARELW (for Medicare); CHAMPLW (for CHAMPUS and CHAMPVA); GROUPLW (for employment-based group health plans, via one's own plan or as a dependent); CAIDLW (for Medicaid); IHSLW (for Indian Health Service or other, not otherwise specified, government coverage); PRIPURLW (for privately-purchased, not employment-based insurance); and OUTOTHLW (for coverage via the plan of someone outside the household, or from some other source).

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.

This variable is comparable across years.

Universe

Flags

Unharmonized Variables

• UH_CURCV1_A1