This article argues that the insurance data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau likely overestimates the number of uninsured Americans.  The authors argue that Medicaid enrollees are undercounted, noting that fewer survey respondents report Medicaid coverage than program administrative data indicates are enrolled in the programs.  The authors suggest that other data sources be considered to provide better estimates of the uninsured and highlight the importance of estimating the scope of insurance coverage given the use of those figures in calculations of health care reform costs.

Klerman, J.A., Davern, M., Call, K.T., Lynch, V., Ringel, J. Understanding the current population survey's insurance estimates and the Medicaid 'undercount.' Health Affairs, 28(6):w991-1001. DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.28.6.w991. http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.28.6.w991

Authors: Jacob A. Klerman, Michael Davern, Kathleen Thiede Call, Victoria Lynch, Jeanne Ringel.