Uninsured Americans vs. Insured Canadians: Who is More Satisfied with Their Health Care?

18 Pages Posted: 7 May 2009

See all articles by John R. Lott

John R. Lott

Crime Prevention Research Center

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: April 27, 2009

Abstract

The debate over government-provided insurance for Americans frequently makes two assumptions: that the uninsured are unsatisfied with the health care they receive and that government health insurance would improve the quality of care for the uninsured. This paper finds that the vast majority of uninsured Americans are satisfied with their health care. Indeed, only 2.3 percent of Americans are both uninsured and very dissatisfied with the quality of the medical care that they receive. The paper finds that Canadians are much closer to uninsured Americans than to insured Americans in their satisfaction with their health care. There is also little difference in the level of Americans' satisfaction with their health care based upon race, marital status, educational attainment, income, or political views. There is some difference in satisfaction based on age and between the most extreme levels of educational attainment.

Keywords: Uninsured, Health care, Canada, Insurance

JEL Classification: H51, I11, I18, I00

Suggested Citation

Lott, John R., Uninsured Americans vs. Insured Canadians: Who is More Satisfied with Their Health Care? (April 27, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1395928 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1395928

John R. Lott (Contact Author)

Crime Prevention Research Center ( email )

PO Box 2293
1100 W Kent Ave
Missoula, MT 59801
United States

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