In 2008, the American Community Survey began asking about current health insurance coverage. Data on health insurance coverage were derived from answers to Question 15, which was asked of all respondents. Respondents were instructed to report their current coverage and to mark "yes" or "no" for each of the eight types listed (labeled as parts 15a to 15h).

a. Insurance through a current or former employer or union (of this person or another family member)
b. Insurance purchased directly from an insurance company (by this person or another family member)
c. Medicare, for people 65 and older, or people with certain disabilities
d. Medicaid, Medical Assistance, or any kind of government-assistance plan for those with low incomes or a disability
e. TRICARE or other military health care
f. VA (including those who have ever used or enrolled for VA health care)
g. Indian Health Service
h. Any other type of health insurance or health coverage plan

During the editing process, write-in answers describing or naming the type of other health insurance or health coverage plan in part h were classified into one of the first seven categories. Hence, only the first seven types of health coverage are part of the microdata file. All write-in responses were classified using an automated computer system. This automated procedure compared write-in responses with a master computer code list and then assigned a code to each write-in response. The computerized matching assured that identical alphabetic entries received the same code. Clerical coding categorized any write-in responses that did not match the computer dictionary. The computer dictionary was then updated with the results of the clerical coding. A computer edit was used for the following types of write-in responses: the type of coverage could not be determined, but coverage by a family member was indicated; coverage was indicated, but a determination between private and public could not be made; and responses of "no coverage." If the write-in could not be coded to one of the coverage types or assigned with the computer edit, or was determined to not be coverage (i.e. dental or vision), the write-in was treated as blank.

People were considered insured if they were reported to have at least one "yes" to Questions 15a to 15f. People who had no reported health coverage or those whose only health coverage was Indian Health Service were considered uninsured.

For reporting purposes, the Census Bureau broadly classifies health insurance coverage as private coverage or public coverage. Private health insurance is a plan provided through an employer or union; a plan purchased by an individual from a private company; or TRICARE or other military health care. Respondents reporting a "yes" to the types listed in parts a, b, or e were considered to have private health insurance. Public health coverage includes the federal programs Medicare, Medicaid, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP); and individual state health plans. Respondents reporting a "yes" to the types listed in c, d, or f were considered to have public health coverage. The types of health insurance are not mutually exclusive; people may be covered by more than one at the same time.

The data on age were derived from answers to Question 4. The age classification is based on the age of the person in complete years at the time of interview. Both age and date of birth are used in combination to calculate the most accurate age at the time of the interview. Inconsistently reported and missing values are assigned or imputed based on the values of other variables for that person, from other people in the household, or from people in other households ("hot deck" imputation). Data on age are used to determine the applicability of other questions for a particular individual and to classify other characteristics in tabulations. Age data are needed to interpret most social and economic characteristics used to plan and analyze programs and policies. Therefore, age data are tabulated by many different age groupings, such as 5-year age groups.