High Percentage of California Construction Workers Uninsured
More than 40% of construction workers were uninsured for part of 2005 and 27% were uninsured for the whole year, according to a Center on Policy Initiatives study released Tuesday, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The study indicates that construction workers are more likely to go without health insurance than workers in any other field outside of agriculture in California (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/18).
Researchers found that self-employment and high turnover were barriers to health insurance for construction workers. Workers cited cost as the primary reason they went without coverage (Lin, Los Angeles Times, 3/19).
About 35% of construction workers received employer-sponsored coverage in 2005, putting construction behind only hotel and food service as the industries with the lowest rates of job-based health insurance (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/18).
Other Employment Fields
According to the study, other fields with high rates of uninsured workers include:
- Leisure and hospitality (24%); and
- Manufacturing, transportation, utilities and wholesale and retail sales (15%).
Methodology
The report is based on 2005 data from the California Health Interview Survey conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (Los Angeles Times, 3/19). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.