Uninsured Up in 2001, Number With Job-Based Health Benefits Declines

November 2002, Vol. 23, No. 11
Paperback, 12 pp.
PDF, 152 kb
Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2002

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Executive Summary

Uninsured Up in 2001, Number With Job-Based Health Benefits Declines—In 2001, 62.6 percent of Americans were covered by employment-based health benefits, down from 2000, when 63.6 percent of the population was covered. This is the first time that the percentage of Americans covered by employment-based health benefits had fallen since 1993. Initial findings indicate that the decline was due to erosion of coverage among workers with insurance in their own name in firms with fewer than 25 employees. In response to the weak economy and rising health benefit costs, some small employers either dropped health benefits or required workers to pay more for these benefits when they were offered.