One-fourth of uninsured work in large firms or are their dependents

Healthcare Financial Management, Dec, 2003

The number of uninsured workers in large firms is up sharply, signaling new trends among businesses that traditionally are the most likely to offer health benefits, according to a report from The Commonwealth Fund released October 21. As of 2001, 26 percent of the nation's uninsured--nearly 10 million Americans--worked for firms with 500 or more employees or were dependents of those workers.

The rate of workers uninsured in these large firms has jumped by more than 50 percent since 1987, with uninsured rates highest among the lower-wage workforce. A combination of factors seems to be responsible for this trend: the decline in manufacturing jobs and unionization rates, restrictions placed on benefit eligibility, higher employee premium contributions, and industry trends and the changing structure of large corporations.

To read The Growing Share of Uninsured Workers Employed by Large Firms, go to www.cmwf.org/programs/insurance/glied_largefirms_672.pdf.>

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