Uninsured Rose in 2002 as Number of Americans With Employment-Based Health Benefits Declined

Abstract:     
This article provides a look at the effect of a weak economy, combined with rising health benefit costs, on the number of Americans who have employment-based health benefits, who are covered by public programs, and who are uninsured. Among all Americans, 61.3 percent - or 175.3 million - were covered by employment-based health benefits during 2002, down from 63.6 percent in 2000. Initial findings indicate that this decline was due to erosion of coverage among both workers and nonworkers as small employers either dropped health benefits or required workers to pay more for them when they were offered.

The PDF for the above title, published in the November 2003 issue of EBRI Notes, also contains the fulltext of another November 2003 EBRI Notes article abstracted on SSRN: Income of the Elderly Population: 2002.

Keywords: Employment-based benefits, Health insurance coverage, Uninsured

JEL Classifications: I11, J1, J33

Accepted Paper Series