Living on the edge: a phenomenological study of medically uninsured working Americans.

An estimated 35 to 50 million Americans have no medical insurance; the vast majority are employed persons and their dependents. This phenomenological study was developed to make visible the experience of working Americans living on the edge-forced to walk a fine line between health and illness without the safety net of medical insurance. A purposive sample of 12 individuals was asked, "What is it like to be working and without medical insurance? Based on textual analysis, using an adaptation of Colazzi's method, themes were grouped into four theme clusters: A Marginalized Life, Up Against Rocks and Hard Places, Making Choices-Chancing It, and Getting By-More or Less. These are illustrated through commentary and direct quotation to depict an overall sense of the experience. Implications for nurses charged with addressing the needs of the medically uninsured and for nursing as a whole are discussed.