End Notes

¹There is some debate over what exactly the CPS and other date sources measure concerning the duration of being without health insurance. For a discussion of the various data sources that measure the uninsured and their advantages and disadvantages, see Lewis, Ellwood, and Czajka (1998); and Graham and Smith (1995).

²Includes persons using the Indian Health Service and state programs, such as Medi-Cal.

³The federal government provides some funding through disproportionate share hospitals (DSH) payments to hospitals that provide care to a large number of uninsured persons. In addition, the federal government provides money to federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) many of whose patients have no insurance. State and local governments also are significant funders of public hospitals and clinics, some of which are FQHCs. In addition, expenditures on the uninsured are made by public health departments, schools, and a variety of state and local entities and programs. For a detailed discussion of taxpayer provided funding for the uninsured, as well as other funding sources, see Lewin and Altman (2000) www.nap.edu.

⁴The immigrant population in the CPS includes some illegal aliens and a small number of persons on temporary visas, such as students, which allow them to stay for multiple years in the United States.

⁵This figure is for all persons 18 and over who lack a high school education.

⁶These figures are based on the March 1996 CPS.

⁷The Census Bureau assigns Medicaid coverage to those who are generally regarded as "categorically eligible" based on other characteristics. For example, persons who receive benefits such as public assistance payments are assumed to be covered by Medicaid, even if they do not report such coverage. The same is true for others who are automatically enrolled in Medicare based on age and receipt of Social Security.

⁸This estimate is derived by first linking the U.S.-born children of immigrants with their parents’ records. Using the year of arrival information for their parents as well as the individual children’s ages, it is then possible to calculate the number of children born to newly arrived immigrants over this time period.

⁹Additional information provided by Dr. Jeffrey Passel of the Urban Institute in personal communication July 12 1999.

¹⁰ "Near poverty" is defined as having an income equal to or below 200 percent of poverty line.

¹¹Household income is based on the same definition as households used throughout this report. Therefore, the numbers presented here do not exactly match those published by the Census Bureau. Please see the Methods and Data section for a complete discussion of how household is defined.

¹²Household is defined here in the same manner as it is in the entire report.

¹³This figure is for all workers (full- and part-time) 15 years of age and older.

¹⁴Of course the situation for individual immigrant families would still have to be addressed.

¹⁵There is currently a large backlog of persons waiting to enter in the spouses and minor children of LPRs category. A significant portion of these individuals are the family members of IRCA amnesty beneficiaries. It seems unwise to continue to separate these families. Therefore, it would make sense to grandfather in those already on the waiting list. However, no future applications would be taken for the spouses and minor children of LPRs.

¹⁶In 1997, unskilled employment-based immigration was temporally lowered to 5,000 to offset the amnesty given to some illegal aliens from Central America. It will remain at this level until all those eligible have adjusted to legal status.