Drew Altman, Kaiser Family Foundation
Sep 26, 2019
Employer-based
health insurance isn’t a monolith — the cost and generosity of that coverage
varies widely. And that likely affects how open workers would be to “Medicare
for All” or a public insurance option.
The big picture:
Democrats’ health care plans would offer a better deal to many
low-wage workers than to their higher-wage counterparts.
By the numbers: The Kaiser
Family Foundation’s annual survey of employer
health benefits illustrates this divide.
- Roughly
36 million American workers earn $25,000 per year or less — retail
workers, personal care attendants, warehouse workers and many more.
- Just
33% of workers at lower-wage firms offering health benefits are covered by
their employer’s health benefits, well below the 63% share at other firms
offering coverage.
- These
low-wage workers pay an average of $7,000 per year just toward the premium
for a family plan.
- Workers
in low-wage firms also face much higher deductibles: a $2,679 annual
single deductible, while at other firms, the average is $1,610.
The bottom
line: There is no way to gild this lily — that is the definition of
unaffordable. And family coverage isn’t even available to these workers much of
the time.
- Whether
low-wage workers ultimately support Democrats’ health care plans is still
a matter of personal preference — whether resistance to change or distrust
in the government outweigh the financial burdens of health insurance.
- But
either “Medicare for All” or a public option would offer much better
coverage than these workers have now.
On the other
end of the spectrum are workers with very good coverage — including
those with union-negotiated contracts and even, at some higher-wage firms,
workers who don’t have to make a premium contribution at all.
- But
as study after study documents, these workers also
struggle with their out-of-pocket costs, especially when they
or their family members become ill.
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