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The percentage of working-age people who get their health insurance through their employer has fallen sharply in recent years, according to a new report, and the drop cannot just be blamed on people losing their jobs.
A report released this week by the by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that 60.1 percent of working-age adults had employer-sponsored insurance in 2009, down 8.8 percentage points from 1999.
In addition, 55.8 percent of children were on an employer-sponsored plan in 2009, a 9.3 percentage point drop from a decade earlier.
The report said job losses were an important factor in people losing their employer health coverage, but they were not the primary reason.
Over the course of the decade, the percentage of full-time workers with employer health benefits fell by 3.8 percentage ponts, to 77.2 percent. The number of people with part-time jobs who got health insurance from their employer saw an even steeper 9.2 percentage point drop, to 50.6 percent.
In general, about 50.7 million people, or 16.7 percent of the population, had no health insurance at all in 2009.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities focuses its research on programs that affect lower-income families. The health insurance report is based on U.S. Census data.
Related:
Your boss is feeling the pain of rising healthcare costs, too
Leave a Comment:
That's BULL***T!!! I thought I got to keep my insurance if I liked it, Mr. President!!??!!??
you do, dumbass...
Really? So the meeting my team had with our HR rep telling us they are reducing our coverage in anticipation of the tax penaties for cadillac plans was just a pipe dream for 50+ people, right?
Nice try dips**t...my coverage is already reduced starting January 1, 2011. Try again, douche.
Yes, the precipitous drop in employer provided healthcare between 1999 and 2009 is because of the health care bill passed in 2010. Oh wait...
BReasonable...at the expense of being redundant for those that don't read posts in their entirety before commenting...
"my coverage is already reduced starting January 1, 2011"
and...right below this post...
"My employer has already started dropping several provisions of my coverage "in anticipation of the coming health care changes."
Oh wait...
Hmm, unemployment has hovered above 9% for over a year!!! Pretty good reason that by the end of 2009 that fewer people were covered by employer provided insurance than a decade ago during the Dot Com BOOM, ehh!
Most of these studies are rediculous, I remember taking a statistical analysis class when I got my MBA and we did case study after case study reputing the findings of such reports. It sells newspapers to those who read and absorb information on a third grade level though!
kpokeefe...makes sense.
How many studies couldn't be reputed...percentage wise if you were to guess? It seems like every study can be disputed using factors that weren't disclosed/considered. So... Let's look at it like a person with a MBA running business would.
Choice #1: Insure my employees at well over $3,000 a year in cost.
Choice #2: Drop my coverage and pay the $3,000 penalty. (Cheaper than option #1.
What would do you think most business owners will do? My employer has already started dropping several provisions of my coverage "in anticipation of the coming health care changes."
Comments?
Agreed, Obamacare certainly encourages corporations and small businesses to drop coverage. That is why it is truly a government takeover of healthcare. I'm not sure that this particular study reflects that reality with data points from 1999 - 2009, however. It will be interesting to look at the data at the end of this year and years to come. Also, since Obamacare is modeled after the European heathcare system, it is of some concern that countires like Germany, Portugal, Spain and recently Belgium are seeing there level of debt rising exponentially against GDP. If this continues something has to give and we could see a collapse of the model thatr so many in America have pointed to as the model of the future.
Free insurance is a pipe dream, somebody will pay , nothing is free. The new health care bill is about controlling lives, and that is all.
Go and see if you can get coverage for a minor now, sorry insurance folks are canceling the plans fast and will not cover the kids, thanks a lot Congress and the White House. The goverment will have all health insurance soon, what they wanted all along.
Spot on, R James.
Don't you see that the drop predates the new healthcare legislation? This trend has been building up for a while.
And will accelerate under Obamacare...kinda like the economy is doing under Obamnamics. Bush pushed it into the pool and Obama won't let it up for air. Great jobs guys!!
Employer provided health care is an obstacle to economic growth. Federal mandates to pay the Socialist Security and Medicare of other people is also a burden on the American people. 8.5% of my paycheck goes to cover somweones rounds of golf and viagra. I have a retiremnet plan so why do I have to pay for the vampiric Socialist secuirty system?
Did you mean to use the screen name Thurstin Howell IV?
Employers claiming the increases are the result of HCR are flipping liars...I own a business and my premiums have gone up EVERY year since 1992...let me reapet that for the information challenged EVERY year...two years ago, before Obama was prez we had a 24% increase so that was Bush's inaction fault I guess huh?
Cost of insurance premiums is insane. I also own a small business and insurance costs far outpace payroll taxes. I offer health insurance policies but absolutely cap what I contribute. Otherwise, there is little motivation for the employee recipients to choose carefully and modestly about the type of coverage they want. I promise you that insurance costs keep me motivated to use free-lance labor whenever possible. If you put some skin in the game, you will also make different choices about the type of coverage you have.
We are circling the drain...
I have posted this already here before You guys should stop complaining because, one the health care we have now isnt as good as it was supposed to be. also the law has just been signed so give it some time. so if u want to say u have the right to choose tell that to ur congress men or state official. If you do not have insurance and need one You can find full medical coverage at the lowest price check http://ow.ly/3akSX .If you have health insurance and do not care about cost just be happy about it and believe me you are not going to loose anything!