Job-Based Health Insurance Rate Down for Some Workers
About 47% of working parents in families with annual incomes of less than $40,000 are offered health insurance benefits through their employers -- a 9% decrease over the past decade, according to a report released Wednesday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Detroit News reports (Kozlowski, Detroit News , 3/14).
For the report, analysts at the University of Minnesota's State Health Access Data Assistance Center examined data from the U.S. Census Bureau, CMS and CDC's National Health Interview Study. According to RWJF, the results "underscore that working parents who earn modest incomes are experiencing dramatic erosion in employee benefits" (RWJF release, 3/14).
The report also found that about nine million children in the U.S. are uninsured, although two-thirds could qualify for government health insurance programs.
The states with the highest percentage of uninsured children are Texas with 20.3%, Florida with 16.9% and New Mexico with 16.6%. States with the lowest rate of uninsured children are Vermont with 5.6%, New Hampshire with 6% and Michigan with 6.1%.
According to the AP/Houston Chronicle, the report notes the importance of SCHIP, which is up for reauthorization this year. Congress is debating how much funding should be allocated for the program (AP/Houston Chronicle, 3/14).
The report is available online. Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat to view the report.