Fewer people reported having employer-based health insurance in 2012 than in years past, although it remains unchanged from 2011.
According to a recent Gallop survey, 44.5 percent of respondents reported getting health insurance at work, which is the same as last year but less than in 2008, 2009 or 2010.
At the same time, more Americans reported having a government-based health plan such as Medicare, Medicaid or military or veterans’ benefits — with the 25.6 percent who did so in 2012 up from 23.4 percent in 2008. The percentage of Americans who say they get their coverage through “something else,” possibly out of their own pocket, has been relatively unchanged over the years.
While more Americans remain uninsured than in the past, the percentage who are uninsured decreased slightly in 2012, after having risen each year previously going back to 2009.
High unemployment is partly to blame for the decrease in employer-based health insurance, according to Gallop. The decline may also be due to fewer employers offering insurance or due to employees opting to not take their employers’ plan due to rising health insurance costs for employees.
The decline in employer-based coverage is apparent for those workers employed full time for an employer or for themselves. However, the percentage of part-time workers who have employer-based insurance rose in 2012.
This group of workers skews young, and young adults, many of whom are either likely still in college and thus can only work part time or are just entering the workforce and struggling to find a job, have become more likely to be insured since the healthcare law provision allowing those up to age 26 to stay on their parents’ plans went into effect.
The majority of workers who do not have a government job continue to get their health insurance from their employer. Gallop reported the 56.8 percent who did so in 2012 is down from a high of 64.2 percent in 2008. More non-government workers now get their insurance from a government plan or are uninsured than were in 2008.
High-income Americans are the most likely to get their health insurance from an employer, while low-income Americans are among the least likely — 69.2 percent vs. 22.7 percent. Americans in all income groups, however, are less likely now than in 2008 to have employer-based healthcare coverage.
Employer-based health insurance coverage rates have dropped among all major subgroups since 2008, declining the most for middle-income Americans and the least for seniors. Rates have, in fact, been steadily trending down every year since 2008, according to Gallop.
Over the past year, young adults aged 18 to 25 are the only subgroup to register a significant increase in employer-based insurance, likely because those in this age group are now eligible to stay on their parents’ plans due to the Affordable Care Act.
