Who Declines Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance and Is Uninsured?

Publication Date: October 1999

Publisher: Center for Studying Health System Change

Author(s): Peter J. Cunningham; Elizabeth Schaefer; Christopher Hogan

Research Area: Health

Type: Brief

Abstract:

Twenty percent of all uninsured persons are offered health insurance by their employer or a family member's employer but choose not to enroll in the offered plan(s). Most persons who do not take up or enroll in available employer- sponsored coverage cite cost as the main reason why. This Issue Brief, based on two surveys conducted as part of the Center for Studying Health System Change's (HSC) Community Tracking Study, presents new findings on who declines employer- sponsored coverage and is uninsured as a result. Given the importance of cost in an individual's decision whether to enroll in employer-sponsored coverage, policy makers need to consider ways to address the problem identified by this study: low take-up rates among lower-income workers.