The Lowdown on Health Insurance

Report offers glimpse into how American workers get their coverage

MONDAY, March 17, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- In the first half of 2000, more than 71 million working Americans under 65 had health insurance they got through their primary workplace.

So says the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

The data is included in a new statistical brief that provides information about American workers with health insurance they obtained from their primary employer.

The brief doesn't look at other sources of insurance obtained through public insurance, another family member's job, a private policy, or a secondary job.

The data from the first half of 2000 was collected by the AHRQ's Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

Here are some other points included in the brief:

  • Managers and administrators were most likely to be insured (73.3 percent), while farm laborers were least likely to have health insurance (28.4 percent).
  • Workers with higher hourly earnings were more likely to have health insurance coverage through their primary place of employment. A third of workers earning less than minimum wage ($5.15 an hour) had insurance coverage from their primary employer, compared to 83.2 percent of workers making more than $21 an hour.
  • Members of labor unions (88 percent) were much more likely to be covered by health insurance through their main employer than nonunion workers (57.6 percent).
  • Government workers had higher rates of workplace health insurance coverage than workers in private industry.

More information

Here's where you can find more information from the AHRQ brief.

Related Stories

No stories found.
logo
www.healthday.com