Brief: 5.7M Californians Lacked Access to Job-Based Coverage in ’07
About 20% of Californians under age 65 who live with at least one employed person -- or about 5.7 million residents -- did not have access to job-based health insurance in 2007, according to according to a policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, HealthyCal reports (Weintraub, HealthyCal, 11/30).
The brief relied on data from the California Health Interview Survey.
Findings
The brief found that low-income residents accounted for the largest group of individuals without job-based health insurance. In addition, employees of small businesses and Latino residents were among the least likely to have employer-based coverage.
According to the brief, about one-third of adults without access to job-based insurance found alternative coverage through Medi-Cal, private insurance or their parents' health plan. Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program.
Of the California children who lacked access to employer-based health insurance, about 57.6% obtained coverage through Medi-Cal or Healthy Families, California's Children's Health Insurance Program. About 7.5% of such children had private health insurance, while 21.4% had no health coverage, according to the brief (UCLA Center for Health Policy Research release, 11/30).
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