Benefits August 28, 2007

Report: Fewer U.S. Residents Getting Employer Health Insurance

August 28, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The U.S. Census Bureau reported Tuesday that residents covered by employment-based health insurance declined again last year from 60.2% in 2005 to 59.7% in 2006, according to Business Insurance.
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According to the report “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2006,” this drop represents the sixth consecutive year of decreases, which started in 2000, when 64.2% of the population was covered by their employers.

Other findings included:

  • In 2006, the number of workers (people who worked at some time during the year) with no health insurance was 27.6 million, higher than the 26.3 million in 2005.
  • The percentage of workers who were uninsured also increased to 18.7% in 2006, from 18% in 2005.
  • Among 18-to-64-year-olds in 2006, full-time workers were more likely to be covered by health insurance (82.1%) than part-time workers (77.1%) or nonworkers (73.9%).
  • The number and the percentage of uninsured full-time workers increased from 20.8 million to 22.0 million and from 17.2% to 17.9%, respectively, from 2005 to 2006.

align=”left”> The Census Bureau has adjusted some of its previous health insurance estimates, but the downward trend was still the same, the report said.

For the full report from the U.S. Census Bureau visit http://www.census.gov/prod/2007pubs/p60-233.pdf.

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