New survey highlights health insurance gaps faced by poor

According to the Commonwealth Fund, low-income adults who were surveyed were less likely to have insurance and to receive medical care including preventive screenings.

Modern Healthcare: Survey Highlights Gaps In Care Faced By Poor
Low-income adults surveyed by the Commonwealth Fund last summer were less likely to have insurance and receive needed medical care than adults with higher incomes, newly released results show. Low-income adults were less likely to receive preventive screening and more likely to visit the emergency room at night or on weekends than those with higher incomes, the survey found (Evans, 2/7).

Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Nowhere To Go But Up For The Poor Lacking Health Insurance, Says Study
In anticipation of the expansion of health insurance that will start in 2014 under the federal health care law, the Commonwealth Fund has begun tracking  coverage of low-income Americans. .. A third of low-income Americans (under 133 percent of poverty, or $29,726 for a family of four) have lacked insurance for at least two years–10 times the rate of higher earners (Rau, 2/7).

National Journal: Survey Documents Uninsured Families-;And Offers Hope
The Commonwealth report says the expansion of Medicaid and other provisions of the health reform law will help connect low- and moderate-income Americans with a regular source of health care. Adults with moderate household incomes-;between 133 and 249 percent of the poverty level-; also lacked health insurance coverage last year, the survey found: 36 percent of adults with family incomes at that level didn't have health insurance in 2011 (Quinton, 2/7).