Fewer American Workers Accepting Health Insurance from Employers
May 4, 2006--A report released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation found that as health care costs rise, so does the number of workers who decline their employer’s health insurance coverage.
Of the private sector employees who were eligible for their employer’s health insurance coverage, the percentage of those who accepted it declined from 85 percent to 80 percent from 1998 to 2003. At the same time, the cost of health care rose in every state, and the national increase in individual premiums from 1998 to 2003 was $1,027, a 42 percent increase.
“As costs go up, fewer individuals and families have insurance and fewer businesses can afford to provide coverage for their employees, which means the number of uninsured Americans will continue to increase. It is way past time for our national leaders to take action,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The report, entitled “Shifting Ground: Changes in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance”, was prepared for RWJF by researchers at the
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