Report shows large declines in employer-sponsored health coverage

A new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think-tank, shows that fewer working-age Americans are being covered under employer-sponsored health plans. In the briefing paper, The Erosion of Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance, EPI explains that employer coverage for workers and their families dropped for the seventh consecutive year.

"Public programs like Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program help children and low-income adults," Eric Griego, executive director at New Mexico Voices for Children, told the Associated Press, "but there's little out there for middle-income workers who can't get or afford coverage through work."

About 62.9 % of Americans under the age of 65 were covered by employer-sponsored insurance in 2007, over 3 million fewer than in 2000, according to the report. Since 2000, the number of uninsured workers has grown by 4.1 million workers. In total, about 45 million Americans under 65 are without health insurance coverage. Because of the large declines in employer-provided health insurance, workers and their families are becoming uninsured at alarming rates.

Some other findings from the briefing:

• The lowest coverage rates were found in New Mexico (50.7%), Texas (53.5%), and Mississippi (53.7%).
• Forty-one states experienced significant losses in coverage.
• South Carolina had the biggest drop in coverage at 7.6 percent. Missouri, North Carolina, and Maryland also experienced losses in excess of 7 percentage points.
• Some 217,000 fewer children are receiving employer-based health care in Texas, a drop of 7.4 percent.
• Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana covered less than half their children with employer-provided health insurance.
• Disparities exist in employer-provided health coverage based on race. Employer-sponsored coverage for Hispanics was much lower than for whites. In 2007, 41.4 percent of Hispanics under age 65 had health insurance through their employers, compared with nearly 71 percent of whites.

The EPI report explains that many Americans are falling through the growing gulf between employer-sponsored health insurance coverage and government-run health programs.

Report author and economist Elise Gould told the AP that the decline of employer health care is likely to continue in 2008, due to the economic downturn and health care cost increases that continue to drive up insurance rates and affect small businesses. "The health care problem has reached a critical level," Gould said. "Bold new solutions need to be considered to address the growing crisis." She underscores that "a universal system, one that provides a minimum standard of care to everyone, would provide Americans with access to the type of health care appropriate for the most prosperous nation in the world."