An estimated 44.3 million people in the United States, or 16.3 percent of the population, were without health insurance coverage during the entire 1998 calendar year. This number was up about 1 million from the previous year; statistically, the proportion was not different than the 1997 value.

The estimates in this report are based on interviewing a sample of the population. Respondents provided answers to the survey questions to the best of their ability. As with all surveys, the estimates differed from the actual values.