Towards a Different Kind of Workplace Coverage

Marguerite Bowling / September 24, 2009

New data out from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that some 44.9 million Americans of all ages were uninsured in the quarter of January through March. Roughly 63.5 percent of unemployed adults aged 18 to 64 and 21.5 percent of employed adults in the same age group had been uninsured at some point in the past year. The new report highlights a trend in Census data that private coverage is declining while coverage in public health programs is on the rise.

The numbers also underscore what Stuart Butler has called a “catastrophe of small-business health care coverage in America.” Since the majority of Americans get their health coverage through their workplace, increasing costs have pressured more companies to reduce or drop benefits, with most small businesses opting to not cover employees because of the skyrocketing costs. The result — as shown in the Kaiser Family Foundation’s recently released annual survey on employer-sponsored benefits — is a relentless drop in small business coverage. Moreover, employer-sponsored health insurance rose to an average annual rate of $13,375 for family coverage this year. (more…)