IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v37y2018i4d10.1007_s11113-018-9468-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mortality Among Veterans and Non-veterans: Does Type of Health Care Coverage Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Scott D. Landes

    (Syracuse University)

  • Andrew S. London

    (Syracuse University)

  • Janet M. Wilmoth

    (Syracuse University)

Abstract

Recent studies examine veteran status differences in mortality, but none consider heterogeneity in military-veteran health care coverage. We use data from the 1997–2009 (2011) National Health Interview Survey-Linked Mortality Files (N = 624,610) to estimate Cox regression models of the association between veteran status and mortality taking into account the type of military-veteran health care coverage and sex/gender. Descriptive analyses provide further evidence that veterans who only use Veterans Affairs (VA) health care services are a distinctly disadvantaged subpopulation with substantially increased mortality risk. Results from multivariate analyses confirm a veteran mortality disadvantage, reveal that this disadvantage varies by type of military-veteran health coverage, and demonstrate that the disadvantage is largely but not totally explained by demographic, socioeconomic, and health status differences between groups. Results further indicate that the veteran mortality disadvantage is most pronounced among male veterans who only use VA health care or who have no military-veteran health coverage, respectively, relative to male non-veterans with no military-veteran health care coverage. There is a mortality disadvantage among female veterans who have no military-veteran health care coverage, and a mortality advantage among female non-veterans with military-veteran health care coverage, relative to female non-veterans with no military-veteran health care. Based on these findings, we argue that in order to fully understand veteran status differences in morbidity and mortality, future studies must move beyond the analysis of veteran- and VA-only samples, and should take into account variable connections of subpopulations to the military, resultant differences in types of health care coverage, and sex/gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott D. Landes & Andrew S. London & Janet M. Wilmoth, 2018. "Mortality Among Veterans and Non-veterans: Does Type of Health Care Coverage Matter?," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(4), pages 517-537, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:37:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s11113-018-9468-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-018-9468-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11113-018-9468-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-018-9468-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne Case & Christina Paxson, 2005. "Sex differences in morbidity and mortality," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(2), pages 189-214, May.
    2. Dalton Conley & Jennifer Heerwig, 2012. "The Long-Term Effects of Military Conscription on Mortality: Estimates From the Vietnam-Era Draft Lottery," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(3), pages 841-855, August.
    3. Miller, M. & Barber, C. & Young, M. & Azrael, D. & Mukamal, K. & Lawler, E., 2012. "Veterans and suicide: A reexamination of the National Death Index-linked National Health Interview Survey," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(S1), pages 154-159.
    4. McCarthy, J.F. & Blow, F.C. & Ignacio, R.V. & Ilgen, M.A. & Austin, K.L. & Valenstein, M., 2012. "Suicide among patients in the Veterans Affairs health system: Rural-urban differences in rates, risks, and methods," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(S1), pages 111-117.
    5. Landes, Scott D. & Wilder, JeffriAnne & Williams, Desiree, 2017. "The effect of race and birth cohort on the veteran mortality differential," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 36-44.
    6. Andrew London & Colleen Heflin, 2015. "Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Use Among Active-Duty Military Personnel, Veterans, and Reservists," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(6), pages 805-826, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Smith, Michael D., 2021. "Food Insecurity Among Working-Age Veterans," USDA Miscellaneous 311332, United States Department of Agriculture.
    2. Rabbitt, Matthew P. & Smith, Michael D., 2021. "Food Insecurity Among Working-Age Veterans," USDA Miscellaneous 311332, United States Department of Agriculture.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steven P. Cassidy & Alair MacLean & Justin T. Denney, 2023. "Military Service, Education, and Mortality Across Cohorts from World War II to the Post-Vietnam Era," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(4), pages 1-25, August.
    2. Landes, Scott D. & Wilder, JeffriAnne & Williams, Desiree, 2017. "The effect of race and birth cohort on the veteran mortality differential," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 36-44.
    3. Thomas Leoni, 2011. "Fehlzeitenreport 2011. Krankheits- und unfallbedingte Fehlzeiten in Österreich," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 42691.
    4. Quitterie Roquebert & Jonathan Sicsic & Thomas Rapp, 2021. "Health measures and long-term care use in the European frail population," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(3), pages 405-423, April.
    5. Pedro Albarran Pérez & Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo & Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe Kortajarene, 2017. "Schooling and adult health: Can education overcome bad early-life conditions?," Working Papers. Serie AD 2017-09, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    6. Andrea M. Mühlenweg & Franz G. Westermaier & Brant Morefield, 2016. "Parental health and child behavior: evidence from parental health shocks," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 577-598, September.
    7. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Mona Larsen, 2010. "The impact of health on individual retirement plans: self‐reported versus diagnostic measures," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(7), pages 792-813, July.
    8. Martin Gaechter & Peter Schwazer & Engelbert Theurl, 2012. "Stronger Sex but Earlier Death: A Multi-level Socioeconomic Analysis of Gender Differences in Mortality in Austria," DANUBE: Law and Economics Review, European Association Comenius - EACO, issue 1, pages 1-23, March.
    9. Timothy Halliday, 2006. "The Impact of Aggregate and Idiosyncratic Income Shocks on Health Outcomes: Evidence from the PSID," Working Papers 200606, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    10. Simon Jean-Baptiste Combes & Nathalie Simonnot & Fabienne Azzedine & Abdessamad Aznague & Pierre Chauvin, 2019. "Self-Perceived Health among Migrants Seen in Médecins du Monde Free Clinics in Europe: Impact of Length of Stay and Wealth of Country of Origin on Migrants’ Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Eva Deuchert & Martin Huber, 2017. "A Cautionary Tale About Control Variables in IV Estimation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(3), pages 411-425, June.
    12. Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2005. "Commentary on \\"Immigration, health, and New York City: early results based on the U.S. new immigrant cohort of 2003\\"," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Dec, pages 153-155.
    13. Linda Juel Ahrenfeldt & Sören Möller & Mikael Thinggaard & Kaare Christensen & Rune Lindahl-Jacobsen, 2019. "Sex Differences in Comorbidity and Frailty in Europe," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 64(7), pages 1025-1036, September.
    14. Thomas Leoni, 2019. "Fehlzeitenreport 2019. Krankheits- und unfallbedingte Fehlzeiten in Österreich – Die flexible Arbeitswelt: Arbeitszeit und Gesundheit," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 62103.
    15. Timothy Halliday, 2006. "Income Risk and Health," Working Papers 200612, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    16. Amo-Agyei, Silas & Maurer, Jürgen, 2024. "Pain and subjective well-being among older adults in the developing world : A comprehensive assessment based on the WHO Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    17. Yue Qin & Douglas A. Sneddon & Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth & Dave Topp & Rena A. Sterrett & Jake R. Newton & Heather A. Eicher-Miller, 2023. "Grit but Not Help-Seeking Was Associated with Food Insecurity among Low Income, At-Risk Rural Veterans," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-14, January.
    18. Mark R. Cullen & Michael Baiocchi & Karen Eggleston & Pooja Loftus & Victor Fuchs, 2015. "The Weaker Sex? Vulnerable Men, Resilient Women, and Variations in Sex Differences in Mortality since 1900," NBER Working Papers 21114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Johnston, David W. & Shields, Michael A. & Siminski, Peter, 2016. "Long-term health effects of Vietnam-era military service: A quasi-experiment using Australian conscription lotteries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 12-26.
    20. Magdalena Muszyñska & Roland Rau Roland, 2014. "Did Men Benefit More from Medical Progress in Recent Decades? Cause-of-Death Contributions to the Decreasing Sex-Gap in Life Expectancy in the United States," Working Papers 72, Institute of Statistics and Demography, Warsaw School of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:37:y:2018:i:4:d:10.1007_s11113-018-9468-2. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.