EBRI Finds Drop In Employment-Based Health Coverage

Nearly 77 million Americans were covered by public health care programs last year, of whom more than half were enrolled in Medicare, EBRI reports.

Other health insurance coverage trends were in line with earlier EBRI studies. For instance, the largest employers are the most likely to offer coverage. Coverage also varies substantially from one state to another: During the 2001-2003 period, for instance, only around 9% of nonelderly residents of Minnesota were uninsured, but this figure nearly triples in Texas, where the uninsured rate was 27% for this group.

“These trends are the result of a weak labor market and rising health benefit costs,” says EBRI president and chief executive Dallas Salisbury. “This is likely to be a continuing trend.”