Highlights
#8: Uninsured Workers - Job Characteristics, 1996
Estimates for U.S. Civilian
Noninstitutionalized Workers Ages 16-64
Introduction
For most Americans, health insurance obtained through the workplace
is the primary source of private coverage. Data from the 1996
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), conducted by the Agency
for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ), indicate that nearly
two-thirds of Americans under 65 years of age obtained job-related
health insurance during the first half of 1996 (data not shown).
However, employment does not necessarily lead to health insurance
coverage for many working Americans. Nearly a fifth (18.4 percent)
of working Americans ages 16-64 (approximately 23 million people)
were uninsured during the first half of 1996. These workers represented
half (51 percent) of the total uninsured population. MEPS data
also indicate that certain job characteristics such as self-employment
or wage earning, size of business, hourly wage, and weekly hours
of work have significant effects on workers' health insurance
status.
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Briefly Stated
- Workers with the following job characteristics were most likely to be uninsured: the self-employed, those working in small businesses, those earning low wages, and part-time workers.
- Workers who were self-employed were almost twice as likely as wage earners to be uninsured.
- The risk of being uninsured was related to size of business. Wage earners were more likely to be uninsured if they worked for establishments with less than 25 employees.
- Workers earning less than $10.00 per hour were at substantially greater risk of lacking health insurance than those earning $10.00 or more per hour.
- Over three-fourths of full-time workers had job-related insurance.
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Findings
Self-employed people were
nearly twice as likely as wage earners to be uninsured during
the first half of 1996. About 30 percent lacked any type of health
insurance, compared to 17 percent of wage earners (Figure
1).
MEPS data also indicate that size of business
is a factor in whether or not a worker has health insurance,
regardless of whether the worker is self-employed or a wage earner.
The self-employed with small businesses of fewer than 10 workers
were more than twice as likely to be uninsured as those with
businesses of 10 or more workers (31 percent and 15 percent,
respectively; data not shown). For wage earners, the contrast
is even more striking (Figure 2).
Thirty percent of wage earners in businesses with fewer than
10 workers were uninsured, but only 7 percent of those in large
establishments (more than 500 workers) were uninsured. Wage earners
in businesses with fewer than 10 employees represented 15 percent
of all working Americans but accounted for 25 percent of the
working uninsured (Figure 3).
Workers who earned low hourly wages also were
at greater risk of being uninsured. Less than half (43 percent)
of workers earning less than $5.00 per hour and only two-thirds
(64 percent) of workers earning $5.00-$9.99 per hour obtained
job-related coverage, in contrast to 95 percent of workers earning
$15.00 or more per hour (data not shown). About 38 percent of
workers earning less than $5.00 per hour and 28 percent of workers
earning $5.00-$9.99 per hour were uninsured, compared to only
3 percent of workers earning $15.00 or more per hour (Figure
4).
Part-time workers (those working less than
35 hours per week) were more likely than full-time workers to
be uninsured (Figure 5). Approximately
60 percent of part-time workers had job-related insurance, compared
to three-quarters (78 percent) of full-time workers.
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About MEPS
The Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
collects nationally representative data on health care use, expenditures,
source of payment, and insurance coverage for the U.S. civilian
noninstitutionalized population. MEPS is cosponsored by the Agency
for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Center
for Health Statistics. This Highlights summarizes data concerning
the characteristics of the working uninsured population in the
United States during the first half of 1996, as derived from the
MEPS Household Component, Round 1. For more information about MEPS,
see the sources listed on the back page.
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Figures
Figure
1.
Percent uninsured for workers ages 16-64 and comparison of self-employed
workers and wage earners: First half of 1996
- Self-employed workers represented just
13 percent of all workers, but they composed 21 percent of all
uninsured workers.
DATA
SOURCE: 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel
Survey Household Component, Round 1.
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Figure 2. Percent
uninsured for wage earners ages 16-64 by size of business: First
half of 1996
- As the establishment size increased, the
percentage of uninsured workers declined.
DATA
SOURCE: 1996
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component, Round
1.
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Figure 3. Comparison
of size of business for all workers and uninsured workers
ages 16-64: First half of 1996
- Wage earners in businesses with less than
10 employees represented 15 percent of all workers but 25 percent
of uninsured workers.
DATA
SOURCE: 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Household Component, Round 1.
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Figure 4. Percent
uninsured for wage earners ages 16-64 by hourly wage: First
half of 1996
- The likelihood that a worker was uninsured
during the first half of 1996 was directly related to level of
earnings.
DATA
SOURCE: 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Household Component, Round 1.
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Figure 5. Insurance
comparison of workers ages 16-64 by number of hours worked
per week: First half of 1996
- Part-time workers were
less likely to have job-related insurance than full-time workers.
DATA
SOURCE: 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey
Household Component, Round 1.
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References
For more information about MEPS, call the MEPS
information coordinator at AHRQ (301-594-1406) or visit the MEPS
section of the AHRQ Web site at: http://www.ahrq.gov/
For a detailed description of the MEPS survey
design, sample design, and methods used to minimize sources of
nonsampling error, see the following publications:
Cohen J. Design and methods of the Medical
Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. Rockville (MD):
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; 1997. MEPS Methodology
Report No. 1. AHRQ Pub. No. 97-0026.
Cohen S. Sample design of the 1996 Medical
Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component. Rockville (MD):
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; 1997. MEPS Methodology
Report No. 2. AHRQ Pub. No. 97-0027.
The estimates in this Highlights are
based on the following, more detailed publication:
Monheit AC, Vistnes JP. Health insurance status
of workers and their families: 1996. Rockville (MD): Agency for
Health Care Policy and Research; 1997. MEPS Research Findings
No. 2. AHRQ Pub. No. 97-0065.
These publications are available from the
AHRQ Clearinghouse (800-358-9295) and on the AHRQ web site.
MEPS Highlights
No. 8, AHRQ Pub. No. 99-0008, December 1998.
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Suggested Citation:
Highlights #8: Uninsured Workers - Job Characteristics, 1996. December 1998. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD.
http://www.meps.ahrq.gov
/data_files/publications/hl8/hl8.shtml
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