1 in 6 Americans has no health insurance
February 15th, 2012, 1:00 am ? ? posted by Mary Ann Milbourn
Nearly one out of six Americans was uninsured last year as fewer employers provided medical coverage, according to a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being survey.
The survey showed 17% of Americans had no health insurance in 2011, up from 14.8% in 2008 as the recession gathered steam.
Meanwhile, well below half of all Americans ? 44.6% ? got their health insurance through their private or government employer, down from 49.1% in 2008.
Those covered through a government health plan ? Medicare, Medicaid or military/veterans? benefits ? edged up to 25.2% in 2011 from 23.4% four years earlier.
Gallup?s conclusion:
?Increased unemployment is likely a factor in declining levels of employer-based health insurance, but is not the sole cause. It appears that even Americans who are in the workforce ? both full- and part-time employees ? are becoming less likely to get their health insurance from their employer. This could be for one of two reasons, and is likely a combination of both: either some workers can no longer afford the rising cost of the health insurance the employer offers or the employer is simply not offering health insurance any longer. Additionally, the proportion of the U.S. workforce that is composed of part-time workers ? a group less likely to receive employer-based health insurance than full-time workers ? has increased.?
According to a 2011 Kaiser Family Foundation survey, employer-sponsored family health insurance cost $15,073 last year, up 9% from 2010. Of that, workers contributed on average $4,129 to the premium cost while employers paid $10,944.
See the full Gallup results HERE.
Did you miss these other recent stories on jobs and the economy:
Source: http://economy.ocregister.com/2012/02/15/1-in-6-americans-has-no-health-insurance/104140/
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