Employer-Based Health Care Coverage Eroding for Working Families and Their Children, Two Independent Studies Conclude

Reports Analyze Children's Health Insurance Trends and Efforts to Expand Employer-Based Health Coverage to U.S. and California Workers and Their Children

Employer-based health care coverage for dependent children has eroded significantly over the past five years and without immediate action, the trend will likely continue well into the future, according to a report released today by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education and Working Partnerships USA. A second report, released by The Economic and Social Research Institute, issues a similar warning, particularly for lower-income households and examines strategies to expand job-based coverage.

According to the reports, compiled separately over different periods of time, increasing health premiums are eroding dependent coverage nationwide, with projections of less than 50 percent job-based coverage in California for children in five years. While job-based dependent coverage is falling for all income levels, the sharpest drops are in low and moderate-income families.

“Up to now, the sharp decline in employer based coverage for dependent children has been offset by increased enrollment in public programs,” said UC Berkeley researcher Arindrajit Dube. “The unraveling of employer-based coverage for dependent care threatens to reverse the recent gains in children’s health care coverage.” ...

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The California Endowment

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