Access to Job-Based Insurance for California's Workers and their Families: The Effect of the Great Recession and Double-Digit Unemployment in California

Abstract

THE CALIFORNIA Journal of Politics & Policy Volume 3, Issue 4 Access to Job-Based Insurance for California Workers and Families: The Effect of the Great Recession and Doublle-Digit Unemployment in California Shana Alex Lavarreda, Ninez A. Ponce, Livier Cabezas, and E. Richard Brown University of California, Los Angeles Abstract Lack of health insurance affects workers and families who depend on job-based coverage for health care. In 2007, the unemployment rate in California was 5.5%. By the end of 2009, it had more than doubled to 12.3%. This study uses data from the 2007 and 2009 California Health Interview Survey to assess changes in ac- cess to job-based health insurance among California workers and their dependents. We find that although increased unemployment dramatically reduced the number of employees, the proportion of employees with no access to job-based coverage through either their own or a spouse’s work remained constant. Among adults with no family access to job-based insurance, the most significant determinants of being uninsured were income and citizenship. Due to more generous public health insur- ance options, children with the lowest household incomes were not significantly more likely to be uninsured than children with higher household incomes. The re- sults highlight the importance of public health insurance for children and confirm the need for the Affordable Care Act’s insurance expansion provisions. Keywords: employment-based insurance, workers, children, recession Copyright © 2011 The Berkeley Electronic Press. All rights reserved. www.bepress.com/cjpp