Changes in characteristics of veterans using the VHA health care system between 1996 and 1999

Table 1 Characteristics of VHA users and non-users in 1996 and 1999

	1996		1999
Characteristics	VHA Users	VHA Nonusers	VHA Users	VHA Nonusers
MEPS Sample Size	534	1410	740	1234
Mean Age	58	57	59	57
%Male	94	96	93	95
%White	86	89	87	88
%Married^a	67	76	72	72
%Living in the MSA Area	77	80	76	80
Employment Status
%Retired	31	28	29	25
%Unemployed in the entire year ^a,b	12	5	15	5
%Insured ^a,b	74	87	81	87
%Insured for veterans < 65 years^a,b	60	81	67	81
Annual Income (in 1999 dollar) ^a,b	$24,854	$30,222	$27,593	$33,151
(standard error)	(1,429)	(875)	(1,145)	(783)
Education ^a
%Less than high school	24	16	22	20
%High school	50	51	51	50
%College degree or higher	26	33	27	30
Perceived Health Status^a,b,c
%Excellent or very good	45	65	42	61
%Good	26	23	34	28
%Fair or poor	29	12	24	11
Perceived Mental Health Status^a,b
%Excellent or very good	63	75	61	73
%Good	24	20	29	23
%Fair or poor	13	4	10	4
%Having Usual source of Care^a,b	87	79	89	78

^a Indicates a significant difference at p < 0.05 level between users and non-users in 1996
^b Indicates a significant difference at p < 0.05 level between users and non-users in 1999
^c Indicates a significant difference at p < 0.05 level among users between 1996 and 1999
^d Indicates a veteran who had health insurance throughout the year

ISSN: 1478-4505