The April 1993 CPS differs from the
March 1993 CPS in a number of respects. The April 1993
CPS supplement surveys only workers, whereas the March
CPS examines the noncash benefits received by all
Americans. The April CPS asks workers about health
coverage in the week in which the questions were fielded,
whereas the March CPS asks about coverage in the
preceding year.
In April 1993, there were 112.5
million civilian American workers between the ages of 18
and 64 with jobs. Eighty-two million (73 percent) of them
worked for an employer that sponsored a health insurance
plan, and 65 million (58 percent of all workers)
participated in their employer's health plan.
About one-third of workers at firms
with fewer than 10 employees had employers who offer
health benefits; about one-quarter of all of the workers
in these firms participated in their employer's plan.
Conversely, 94 percent of workers at firms with more than
1,000 employees had an employer who sponsored health
benefits, and over 77 percent of these workers
participated in their employer's plan.
There are 16.5 million American
workers whose employers sponsored health benefits but who
did not participate in these benefits. Over one-half of
these workers (8.5 million) chose not to be covered.
Another 36 percent of these workers (5.9 million) did not
participate because they were ineligible or denied
coverage.
Over 66 percent of the ineligible
workers did not participate because they were part-time,
contract, or temporary workers. Another 26 percent had
not yet completed a probationary period.
Among the reasons that those who
chose not to participate in their employer's coverage,
the vast majority (75 percent) stated they were covered
by another health care plan. Twenty-nine percent stated
that they chose not to purchase coverage because it was
too costly or that they did not need or want the
coverage.
In 1993, there were 16.7 million
workers with no health insurance coverage. The vast
majority of these workers (95 percent) were employed by
private employers. Sixty-six percent of the workers with
no health insurance coverage were self-employed or worked
for firms with fewer than 100 employees.
