U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

census.gov

Household Economic Studies

Employment-Based Health Insurance: 2010

Hubert Janicki

P70-134

Issued February 2013

INTRODUCTION

More than half of the U.S. population (55.1 percent)

had employment-based health insurance coverage in 

2011, and among the employed population aged 18 

to 64, over two-thirds (68.2 percent) had health insurance through their own employer or another person’s 

employer.1 In addition, over one-third (34.7 percent) 

of individuals who did not work received coverage 

through employment-based health insurance, usually 

from a former employer or another person’s employer. 

This report uses data from the Survey of Income and 

Program Participation (SIPP) to examine the characteristics of people with employer-provided health insurance coverage as well as characteristics of employers 

that offer health insurance. This documentation of the 

current distribution of employment-based health insurance coverage across socioeconomic characteristics is 

needed to establish the changes associated with recent 

health care legislation. The report is composed of two 

sections. The first section provides a brief overview of 

historical trends in employer-provided coverage rates 

by source of coverage as well as the reasons for nonparticipation in health insurance from 1997 to 2010. 

The second section focuses on data collected in 2010 

and describes health insurance offer and take-up rates 

by employee and employer characteristics. In addition, 

1 DeNavas-Walt, Carmen, Bernadette D. Proctor, and Jessica C. Smith, 

“Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 

2011,” Current Population Reports, P60-243, U.S. Census Bureau,

Washington, DC, 2012.

the report describes the insurance status of workers 

not participating in an employer’s plan and the reasons 

for nonparticipation.

Data for this report come from several years of the 

SIPP. Current estimates come from the sixth wave of 

the 2008 SIPP panel, fielded between May and August 

2010. Historical trends also incorporate data from 

the 1996, 2001, and 2004 SIPP panels, corresponding 

to fifth-wave interviews fielded between August and 

November in 1997 and June and September in 2002 

and 2005, respectively. The population represented is 

the civilian noninstitutionalized population living in the 

United States.2 This report makes use of questions collected in the core SIPP section and a supplemental questionnaire on employment-based health benefits. The 

supplemental questionnaire is fielded once per panel 

starting in 1997. The periods chosen for this report 

correspond to the reference periods of the supplemental questionnaire. The core SIPP asks specific questions about health insurance, labor force status, and 

employer characteristics. The supplemental questionnaire on employment-based health benefits includes 

questions about characteristics of the health insurance 

plan offered by the employer. 

2 The estimates in this report (which may be shown in text, figures, 

and tables) are based on responses from a sample of the population 

and may vary from the actual values because of sampling variability or 

other factors. As a result, apparent differences between the estimates 

for two or more groups may not be statistically significant. All comparative statements have undergone statistical testing and are significant at 

the 90 percent confidence level unless otherwise noted. 
2 U.S. Census Bureau

This report builds on earlier

work by Bhandari and Fronstin.3,4

In particular, this work is an

update of an earlier report by

Bhandari, “Employment-Based 

Health Insurance: 1997.” Fronstin 

details trends in coverage, take-up 

rates, and reasons for nonparticipation in employment-based health 

insurance between 1997 and 

2010. While the work is restricted 

to workers aged 18 and 64, it 

provides an excellent overview 

of changes in the distribution of 

employer-provided coverage for 

this demographic over this period. 

This report differentiates itself 

from Fronstin’s work by expanding 

the population universe to include 

unemployed individuals and those 

not in the labor force for ages 15 

and above. A detailed analysis of 

employer-provided health insurance 

across labor force status

is valuable, since the Patient

Protection and Affordable Care Act 

is likely to change incentives for 

both employers and individuals 

in these groups (i.e., employed, 

unemployed, and not in the labor 

force) to obtain coverage through 

employment-based sources.5

The economic and demographic 

characteristics studied in this 

report include sex, race and ethnicity, age, family income, and insurance status. Race and ethnicity is 

defined throughout the report in 

terms of the four following mutually exclusive categories: (1) nonHispanic White, (2) non-Hispanic 

Black, (3) Hispanic, and (4) nonHispanic Other. Statistics for the 

3 Bhandari, Shailesh, “Employment-Based 

Health Insurance: 1997,” Current Population 

Reports, P70-81, U.S. Census Bureau,

Washington, DC, 2002. 4 Fronstin, Paul, “Employment-Based

Health Benefits: Trends in Access and

Coverage, 1997–2010,” EBRI Issue Brief

no. 370, Employee Benefit Research Institute, 

2011. 5 Congressional Budget Office, “Estimates 

for the Insurance Coverage Provisions of the 

Affordable Care Act Updated for the Recent 

Supreme Court Decision,” July 2012.

non-Hispanic Other category are 

not included in this report.6 The 

primary measure of family income 

used in this study is an individual’s 

total family income as a percentage 

of their poverty threshold. A value 

less than one hundred percent

indicates that an individual is 

considered in poverty as defined 

by the Federal Poverty Thresholds. 

Health insurance status is presented in the following categories: 

(1) employment-based (or unionbased) health insurance coverage; 

(2) direct-purchase or militaryrelated health insurance and no 

employment-based coverage; (3) 

public coverage, and no employment-based or direct-purchase 

or military-related coverage; and 

(4) no health insurance coverage. 

This means that those with more 

than one type of insurance including employment-based insurance 

are included in the employmentbased group. The direct-purchase 

or military-related health insurance 

category includes respondents 

with mixed coverage from public 

health insurance sources. Finally, 

measures of offer rates refer to 

whether the employer offers health 

insurance benefits to any of its 

employees.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The likelihood of employmentbased coverage declined from 

64.4 percent (± 0.5) in 1997 to 

56.5 percent (± 0.5) in 2010 

(Figure 1).

• In 2010, 71.1 percent (± 0.5) 

of employed individuals aged 

15 and older worked for an 

employer that offered health 

insurance benefits to any of its 

employees (Table 4).

6 “Non-Hispanic Other” refers to people 

who are not Hispanic and reported Asian 

alone, Pacific Islander alone, American Indian 

alone, Alaskan Native alone, or multiple 

races. 

• 42.9 percent (± 1.8) of individuals who did not complete high 

school worked for an employer 

that offered health insurance to 

any of its employees, compared 

with 78.9 (± 0.5) percent for 

individuals with a college degree 

(Table 4).

• Of workers aged 45 to 64, 75.7 

percent (± 0.7) worked for an 

employer that offered health 

insurance benefits, compared 

with 60.0 percent (± 1.4) for 

workers aged 19 to 25 (Table 4).

• Among married couples with 

only one member employed in a 

firm that offers health insurance 

benefits, 68.7 (± 1.7) percent 

provided coverage for the 

spouse (Table 5).

• While 37.6 percent (± 2.0) of 

firms with 0 to 24 employees 

offered multiple health insurance plans, 65.6 percent (± 1.0) 

of firms with 1,000 or more 

employees offered multiple 

plans (Table 7).

• About 1.1 percent (± 0.2) of 

nonparticipating workers whose 

employer offered health insurance benefits were not insured 

by their employer because they 

were denied coverage (Table 9). 

• Among nonparticipating workers 

whose employer offered health 

insurance benefits, approximately half (50.4 percent)

(± 1.2) declined coverage by 

choice (Table 9).

• The two most common reasons 

among workers who chose 

not to obtain insurance coverage through the employer 

were health insurance obtained 

through another source (66.4 

percent) (± 1.3) and cost (27.4 

percent) (± 1.2) (Table 10).
U.S. Census Bureau 3

TRENDS IN HEALTH 

INSURANCE COVERAGE

Employment-based health insurance is the largest source of health 

insurance coverage in the United 

States (Figure 1).7 In 2010, 56.5 

percent of individuals aged 15 

and older received health insurance through an employer, a 

7 Fronstin, referenced in footnote 4, provides a more detailed presentation of trends 

in health insurance coverage restricted to 

employed individuals.

decline from 64.4 percent in 1997.8

These individuals received health 

insurance through either their 

own employer or someone else’s 

employer as dependents. Over the 

same period, the chance of obtaining health insurance from one’s 

own employer declined from 39.9 

percent to 34.8 percent. The rate 

of employment-based coverage as 

a dependent declined from 24.4 

percent in 1997 to 21.7 percent 

in 2010.

The rates of employment-based 

health insurance coverage varied 

by labor force status and declined 

between 1997 and 2010 (Table 1). 

Among employed individuals, 

employer-provided coverage 

declined from 76.0 percent in 1997 

to 70.2 percent in 2010. The 

likelihood of employment-based 

health insurance coverage was 

lower for those in the unemployed 

and not-in-labor force categories 

than the employed category. In 

addition, employer-provided 

coverage declined for unemployed 

individuals from 33.5 percent in 

1997 to 30.8 percent in 2010. 

Employment-based coverage for 

individuals not in the labor force 

declined from 45.4 percent in 1997 

to 38.6 percent in 2010. The 

unemployed and individuals not in 

the labor force were generally 

covered by a previous employer’s 

plan or that of someone else, such 

as a spouse or parent’s employer, 

through dependent coverage.

The rate of public health insurance coverage and uninsurance 

increased between 1997 and 2010 

among employed individuals and 

those not in the labor force. The 

likelihood of no insurance coverage 

8 Comparable baseline estimates are 

available from the Current Population Survey 

Annual Social and Economic Supplement. For 

1997, 2002, 2005, and 2010, the rates of 

employment-based health insurance coverage 

among the population aged 15 and over were 

60.9 percent, 62.4 percent, 60.6 percent, and 

55.4 percent, respectively.

Figure 1.

Employment-Based Health Insurance Rate, by 

Type of Coverage: 1997, 2002, 2005, and 2010

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996, 2001, 

2004, and 2008 Panels).

(In percent. All people aged 15 and over)

Dependent coverage Covered by own employer

1997 2002 2005 2010

24.4 23.7 22.9 21.7

39.9 40.0 39.3 34.8

64.4 63.7 62.2

56.5

Table 1.

Sources of Health Insurance Coverage Among People

Aged 15 and Older by Labor Force Status: 1997, 2002, 

2005, and 2010

(In percent)

Characteristic 1997 2002 2005 2010

Employed

Employment-based health insurance . . . . . . 76 .0 76 .2 74 .0 70 .2

Direct-purchase or military-related . . . . . . . . 6 .7 6 .4 7 .4 7 .1

Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 .7 3 .0 3 .8 4 .8

No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 .7 14 .5 14 .7 18 .0

Unemployed

Employment-based health insurance . . . . . . 33 .5 37 .0 37 .4 30 .8

Direct-purchase or military-related . . . . . . . . 5 .9 6 .6 8 .0 7 .1

Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 .2 13 .3 14 .8 15 .9

No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 .4 43 .1 39 .8 46 .2

Not in Labor Force

Employment-based health insurance . . . . . . 45 .4 44 .5 42 .9 38 .6

Direct-purchase or military-related . . . . . . . . 20 .2 19 .8 23 .3 19 .5

Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 .0 22 .3 21 .8 27 .4

No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 .4 13 .3 12 .0 14 .4

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996, 2001, 2004, and

2008 Panels) .
4 U.S. Census Bureau

increased from 14.7 percent to 

18.0 percent between 1997 and 

2010 among employed individuals. 

The rate of no insurance coverage 

increased in the not-in-labor-force 

category from 12.4 percent to 14.4 

percent between 1997 and 2010. A 

higher proportion of unemployed 

individuals were uninsured in 2010 

(46.2 percent) than in 2005 (39.8 

percent) and 2002 (43.1 percent).

Between 1997 and 2010, the likelihood of working for an employer 

that offered health insurance benefits declined from 46.4 percent to 

41.4 percent (Figure 2). However, 

among those with employmentbased health insurance, the estimated proportion with coverage 

from current or former employer 

remained statistically unchanged 

between 1997 and 2010 (Table 2).9

Coverage obtained through another 

individual’s employer, such as a 

parent or spouse, increased slightly 

from 38.0 percent to 38.5 percent 

between 1997 and 2010. In 2005, 

the likelihood of coverage through 

someone else’s employer was lower 

relative to 1997 and 2010 at 

36.9 percent.10

In all 4 years shown, the main 

reason given for nonparticipation in 

employment-based health insurance among those whose employer 

offers such benefits to any employees was choice (Table 3). For example, in 2010 one-half (50.4 percent) 

of workers chose not to enroll in 

their employer’s plan although 

9 A larger proportion of employmentbased coverage was received through the 

current employer in 2005 relative to the other 

years at 52.0 percent. 10 Estimates from 2010 do not reflect 

expansion of the maximum eligible age for 

dependent care that was part of the Patient 

Protection and Affordable Care Act. Studies 

suggest that this expansion is associated with 

an increase in dependent care enrollment. See 

Sommers, Paul D. and Kronick, Richard, The 

Affordable Care Act and Insurance Coverage 

for Young Adults, Journal of the American 

Medical Association, 307(9):913-4.

Figure 2.

Percentage of the 15 and Older Population Working 

for an Employer Which Offered Health Insurance: 

1997, 2002, 2005, and 2010 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996, 2001, 

2004, and 2008 Panels). 

(In percent)

46.4 46.1 45.6

41.4

1997 2002 2005 2010

Table 2.

Sources of Employment-Based Health Insurance: 1997, 

2002, 2005, and 2010

(In percent)

Characteristic 1997 2002 2005 2010

Current employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 .4 51 .6 52 .0 51 .1

Former employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 .6 11 .2 11 .1 10 .4

Someone else’s employer (dependent coverage) . . . . 38 .0 37 .2 36 .9 38 .5

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996, 2001, 2004, and

2008 Panels) .

Table 3.

Reason for Nonparticipation in Employment-Based Health 

Insurance: 1997, 2002, 2005, and 2010

(In Percent)

Characteristic 1997 2002 2005 2010

Ineligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 .1 32 .5 32 .9 32 .2

Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .1 0 .9 1 .1 1 .1

Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 .4 49 .2 48 .5 50 .4

Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 .4 17 .4 17 .6 16 .3

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996, 2001, 2004, and

2008 Panels) .
U.S. Census Bureau 5

they were eligible. Over time, 

respondent selection of “choice” as 

the main reason for nonparticipation increased from 46.4 percent 

in 1997 to 50.4 percent in 2010. 

Typically, these individuals did not 

enroll because they had health 

insurance from another source or 

they considered the plan too costly. 

The proportion of individuals that 

named cost as the main reason for 

not purchasing health insurance 

from their own employer increased 

from 21.6 percent in 1997 to 27.4 

percent in 2010 (Figure 3).11

11 Totals in Figure 3 do not sum to 100 

percent since respondents may select more 

than one category and not all reasons are 

shown. Reasons not shown in Figure 3 

include “no family coverage,” “too many 

limitations,” and “preexisting conditions not 

covered.”

References to “ineligible” as the 

main reason for nonparticipation decreased from 37.1 percent 

in 1997 to 32.2 percent in 2010 

(Table 3). Nonparticipating employees were not eligible to participate 

in their employer’s health insurance 

plan, typically because they were 

temporary, worked part-time, or 

had not completed their probationary period.

The fraction of workers without health insurance coverage 

increased between 1997 and 2010 

for workers whose employer did 

not offer coverage (Figure 4). 

For these workers, the rates of 

no health insurance coverage 

increased from 34.6 percent to 42.2 

percent over this period. Among 

workers whose employer offered 

health insurance benefits, the fraction uninsured decreased and then 

increased over this period. The 

no coverage rate first decreased 

from 26.1 percent in 1997 to 23.1 

percent in 2005, then increased to 

27.0 percent in 2010.

Figure 3.

Most Common Reasons for Nonparticipation by Workers Who Chose Not to Participate

in Jobs With Employer-Offered Health Insurance: 1997, 2002, 2005, and 2010

Notes: "Other reasons" category is composed of write-ins. Categories do not sum to 100 percent since respondents may select more than

one category. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996, 2001, 2004, and 2008 Panels). 

Other health insurance Too costly Other reasons No need or want

(In percent)

4.6

77.0 73.9 71.7

66.4

27.4 23.4 21.6 21.3

4.7 3.5 2.1 2.5

4.8 4.3 4.2

1997 2002 2005 2010

Figure 4.

Noncoverage Among the Employed by Whether

Employer Offers Health Insurance: 1997, 2002, 2005, 

and 2010

Note: Health insurance may be offered only to some employees.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation (1996, 2001, 

2004, and 2008 Panels).

(In percent)

Employer offers health insurance Employer offers no health insurance

26.1 24.5 23.1 27.0

34.6 36.8 36.3

42.2

1997 2002 2005 2010
6 U.S. Census Bureau

EMPLOYMENT-BASED 

HEALTH INSURANCE: 2010

Offer and Coverage Rates

In the United States, employmentbased health insurance coverage is 

often a benefit offered to employees. Eligible workers then choose 

whether or not to participate in 

their employer’s health insurance 

program. In 2010, most employees 

(71.1 percent) worked for employers who offered health insurance 

coverage to any of their employees (Table 4). Note that the SIPP 

asks respondents whether their 

employer offered health insurance 

to any employees, rather than the 

respondent in particular. Of those, 

most employees (69.8 percent) 

participated in health insurance 

coverage from their employer. The 

remaining employees (30.2 percent) were either not offered the 

health insurance benefit or chose 

not to participate.

Offer and coverage rates differ by 

several key demographic characteristics. The likelihood of working 

for an employer that offers health 

insurance benefits to any of its 

employees increases with education level. Among workers who 

did not complete high school, 42.9 

percent worked for an employer 

that offered health insurance to 

any employees, compared with 

78.9 percent for individuals with 

a college degree. While a higher 

proportion of women than men 

worked for employers that offered 

health insurance (69.9 percent of 

men and 72.5 percent of women), 

a higher proportion of men were 

covered, 73.9 percent compared 

with 65.3 percent for women.

By race and ethnicity, non-Hispanic 

Blacks were employed at firms that 

offered health insurance benefits 

in higher proportions (76.0 percent) than non-Hispanic Whites 

(73.3 percent) or Hispanics (56.4 

percent). For individuals under 65 

years old, a higher proportion of 

older workers had an employer that 

offered health insurance benefits. 

For example, 75.7 percent of 

Table 4.

Employment-Based Health Insurance Coverage Rates by Selected Worker 

Characteristics: 2010

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic Employed 

total

Offered Covered

Number Percent Number

Percentage of 

offered

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Education

 . 140,659 100,077 71 .1 69,831 69 .8

Less than high school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,462 5,347 42 .9 2,850 53 .3

High school or some college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,301 37,220 67 .3 24,133 64 .8

College degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sex

 . 72,896 57,510 78 .9 42,848 74 .5

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,471 52,063 69 .9 38,483 73 .9

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Race and Hispanic Origin

 . 66,187 48,014 72 .5 31,348 65 .3

White, non-Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,781 71,712 73 .3 50,661 70 .6

Black, non-Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,340 10,903 76 .0 7,407 67 .9

Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Age

 . 19,771 11,159 56 .4 7,329 65 .7

15 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,659 100,077 71 .1 69,831 69 .8

 15 to 18 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,265 1,358 41 .6 149 11 .0

 19 to 25 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,594 10,557 60 .0 4,914 46 .6

 26 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58,022 42,741 73 .7 31,151 72 .9

 45 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,407 41,940 75 .7 31,905 76 .1

 65 Years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Family Income as Percentage of Poverty1

 . 6,371 3,480 54 .6 1,711 49 .2

138 percent or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,116 8,268 43 .3 4,172 50 .5

139 percent to 250 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,154 16,701 63 .9 10,837 64 .9

251 percent to 400 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,544 25,106 74 .8 18,227 72 .6

401 percent or higher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,844 50,002 80 .9 36,596 73 .2

1

 Family income thresholds are defined to maintain consistency with income categories specified in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act .

Source: U S Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010 For more information on confidentiality protection, . . .

sampling, and nonsampling errors see <www census gov/sipp/source html> . . . .
U.S. Census Bureau 7

workers aged 45 to 64 worked for 

an employer that offered health 

insurance benefits, compared with 

60.0 percent for workers aged 19 

to 25.

By family income, the likelihood 

of working for an employer that 

offers any health insurance benefits increased with family income. 

Individuals with family incomes 

less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level were the least 

likely to work for an employer that 

offered health insurance benefits. 

Among these workers, 43.3 percent 

were employed in firms that offered 

health insurance benefits. In comparison, 63.9 percent of individuals 

with family incomes between 139 

percent and 250 percent of the 

federal poverty level worked for 

such an employer. Among workers 

with family incomes 251 percent to 

400 percent of the federal poverty 

level, 74.8 percent were employed 

in firms that offered health insurance benefits. Workers with family 

incomes 401 percent and above of 

the federal poverty level were the 

most likely to work for an employer 

that offered health benefits (80.9 

percent). The likelihood of coverage 

among workers whose employer 

offers health insurance coverage 

also increased with family income.

For workers with an employed 

spouse, many rely on coverage 

from only one of their employers, as employment-based health 

insurance contracts often provide 

eligibility for family coverage (i.e., 

coverage of spouses and children). 

In particular, 56.9 percent of couples with both workers employed 

in firms that offered health insurance benefits, purchased coverage 

for the worker and their spouse 

(Table 5). For couples with only one 

member employed in a firm that 

offered health insurance benefits, 

68.7 percent of couples provided 

coverage for the spouse.

The likelihood of health insurance 

coverage for the policyholder and 

spouse varied by family income 

level. Couples across all income 

categories were more likely to 

purchase coverage for their spouse 

when the couple had at most one 

health insurance offer. For example, 

57.5 percent of couples with family 

incomes between 139 percent and 

250 percent of the federal poverty 

level purchased health insurance 

for their spouse when the couple 

had at most one offer of health 

Table 5.

Employment-Based Health Insurance by Worker With Working Spouse: 2010

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

Total

Policyholder only Policyholder and spouse

Number Percent Number Percent

 All working married couples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,216 7,465 26 .5 15,686 55 .6

2 offers (both employers offer benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,824 6,179 36 .7 9,574 56 .9

1 offer (one employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,899 1,286 14 .5 6,112 68 .7

0 offers (neither employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,494 (X) (X) (X) (X)

All Married Couples by Income as Percentage of Poverty1

138 percent or less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,537 223 14 .5 382 24 .8

 2 offers (both employers offer benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 115 32 .9 148 42 .6

 1 offer (one employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 590 108 18 .4 233 39 .6

 0 offers (neither employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599 (X) (X) (X) (X)

139 percent to 250 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,551 843 23 .7 1,554 43 .8

 2 offers (both employers offer benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,460 536 36 .7 728 49 .9

 1 offer (one employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,436 307 21 .4 826 57 .5

 0 offers (neither employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655 (X) (X) (X) (X)

251 percent to 400 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,601 1,667 25 .3 3,786 57 .4

 2 offers (both employers offer benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,710 1,272 34 .3 2,177 58 .7

 1 offer (one employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,351 395 16 .8 1,609 68 .4

 0 offers (neither employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540 (X) (X) (X) (X)

401 percent or higher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,527 4,732 28 .6 9,964 60 .3

 2 offers (both employers offer benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,305 4,256 37 .6 6,521 57 .7

 1 offer (one employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,522 476 10 .5 3,444 76 .2

 0 offers (neither employer offers benefits) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 700 (X) (X) (X) (X)

(X) Not applicable .

1

 Family income thresholds are defined to maintain consistency with income categories specified in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010 . For information on confidentiality protection, 

sampling, and nonsampling error see <www .census .gov/sipp/source .html> .
8 U.S. Census Bureau

insurance. In contrast, among couples with family incomes between 

251 percent and 400 percent of 

the federal poverty level, 68.4 

percent purchased health insurance 

for their spouse when the couple 

received at most one offer of health 

insurance.

Health Insurance Benefits by 

Labor Force Status

Current employers were the most 

common source of health insurance for employed individuals 

(Table 6). One-half (49.6 percent) 

of employed individuals were 

covered by their current employer. 

Employed men aged 26 to 64 years 

old were more likely to be covered by this source than employed 

women in the same age group. 

Among people aged 26 to 44, 

current employers covered 56.1 

percent of men compared with 

50.8 percent of women. The rate 

of health insurance coverage from 

a current employer for employed 

men aged 45 to 64 was even 

higher—60.1 percent, compared 

with 54.9 percent for employed 

women in the same age group. 

In addition to receiving coverage through their own employer, 

individuals also received coverage 

as dependents through spouses’ or 

parents’ plans: 14.3 percent of all 

employed, 14.4 percent of unemployed, and 17.5 percent of those 

not in the labor force were covered 

as dependents.

The likelihood of health insurance 

coverage from a previous employer 

was larger for individuals aged 45 

to 64 than for those aged 26 to 44 

regardless of labor force status. In 

addition, a larger fraction of individuals of all ages who were unemployed or out of the labor force had 

health insurance coverage from 

a previous employer compared 

with employed individuals. Among 

employed workers aged 65 and 

over, 9.4 percent were covered by 

their previous employer. A smaller 

percentage of younger workers 

obtained health insurance through 

their former employer. Only 0.4 

percent of employed individuals 

aged 19 to 25 and 1.0 percent 

of employed individuals aged 26 

to 44 were covered by previous 

employers.

In addition to employment-based 

health insurance, individuals across 

different labor force status groups 

had health insurance coverage from 

other sources. In particular, 7.1 

percent of employed individuals 

had directly-purchased or militaryrelated coverage, compared with 

19.5 percent of those not in the 

labor force. Furthermore, 4.8 percent of employed people had public 

health insurance, compared with 

27.4 percent of those not in the 

labor force.

Unemployed individuals were more 

likely to be uninsured than people 

who were employed or not in the 

labor force across all age groups. 

Unemployed men aged 26 to 44 

were more likely to be without 

health insurance, at 64.4 percent, 

than unemployed men aged 45 to 

64, at 49.1 percent. Individuals 

aged 65 and over were the least 

likely to be uninsured across the 

three labor force categories. The 

rate of no insurance coverage for 

this group was 1.1 percent for 

those who were employed, 1.4 percent for the unemployed, and 0.8 

percent for those not in the labor 

force. 

The majority of these individuals 

aged 65 and over were eligible for 

public health insurance through 

the Medicare program. However, 

rates of public insurance coverage 

were lower than rates of coverage 

from employer-provided and directpurchase or military-related sources 

for all three labor force categories. 

In the 65 and over age category, 

public health insurance coverage 

was 18.5 percent for the employed, 

25.4 percent for the unemployed, 

and 30.5 percent for those not in 

the labor force.12 

Health Insurance Benefits by 

Employer Characteristics

Health insurance offer rates 

increased by the size of the worker’s employer as measured by the 

number of workers at the firm 

(Table 7). Individuals who worked 

for small businesses were less 

likely to be covered by employment-based health insurance than 

those working in larger firms. 

Less than one half (45.3 percent) 

of people working in firms with 

fewer than 25 employees received 

health insurance benefits compared 

with 88.8 percent for people who 

worked for firms employing 1,000 

or more employees.13

Health insurance coverage rates 

also increased with business size. 

Of individuals who worked for 

employers with fewer than 25 

employees, 27.8 percent had health 

insurance coverage through their 

current employers. In comparison, 

the participation rates increased 

with firm size, with 63.6 percent 

for firms with 1,000 or more 

employees.

While employees in larger firms 

were more likely to have health 

insurance coverage, employees in 

firms with 100 or more workers 

12 Mixed coverage respondents with both 

public coverage and employment-based or 

directly-purchased health insurance coverage are defined in this analysis to be in the 

latter two categories. Therefore, the low 

estimates of public insurance coverage reflect 

higher rates of mixed public health insurance 

coverage with employment-based and directpurchase or military-related sources. 13 These estimates are lower than estimates provided by the Medical Expenditure 

Panel Survey Insurance Component, which 

is an employer-based survey. One possible 

reason for the discrepancy is respondent 

uncertainty of benefits received by other 

employees at the firm.
U.S. Census Bureau 9

Table 6.

Health Insurance Coverage Type by Age, Sex, and Labor Force Status: 2010—Con.

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

15 years

and over 15–18 years 19–25 years 26–44 years 45–64 years 65 years

and over

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

 Employed . . . . . . . . 140,659 100.0 3,265 100.0 17,594 100.0 58,022 100.0 55,407 100.0 6,371 100.0

Current employer . . . . . . . . 69,831 49.6 149 4.6 4,914 27.9 31,151 53.7 31,905 57.6 1,711 26.9

Previous employer . . . . . . . 2,644 1.9 2 – 67 0.4 590 1.0 1,389 2.5 596 9.4

Somebody else’s employer 

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . . 20,061 14.3 228 7.0 791 4.5 8,443 14.6 9,877 17.8 723 11.3

Privately purchased or 

military-related . . . . . . . . . 9,936 7.1 316 9.7 1,538 8.7 2,632 4.5 3,398 6.1 2,053 32.2

Public health insurance . . . 6,728 4.8 493 15.1 1,164 6.6 2,649 4.6 1,241 2.2 1,181 18.5

No health insurance . . . . . . 25,276 18.0 359 11.0 5,445 31.0 12,112 20.9 7,286 13.2 73 1.1

 Unemployed . . . . . 14,822 100.0 943 100.0 2,902 100.0 5,972 100.0 4,573 100.0 433 100.0

Previous employer . . . . . . . 1,443 9.7 22 2.3 125 4.3 487 8.2 748 16.4 61 14.1

Somebody else’s employer 

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . . 2,139 14.4 22 2.3 90 3.1 941 15.8 1,023 22.4 63 14.5

Privately purchased or 

military-related . . . . . . . . . 1,056 7.1 65 6.9 199 6.9 313 5.2 285 6.2 193 44.7

Public health insurance . . . 2,359 15.9 292 30.9 527 18.2 1,001 16.8 428 9.4 110 25.4

No health insurance . . . . . . 6,845 46.2 139 14.7 1,441 49.6 3,198 53.6 2,062 45.1 6 1.4

 Not in labor force . . . 86,201 100.0 12,752 100.0 8,614 100.0 12,924 100.0 20,116 100.0 31,795 100.0

Previous employer . . . . . . . 10,070 11.7 247 1.9 332 3.9 347 2.7 3,272 16.3 5,871 18.5

Somebody else’s employer 

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . . 15,050 17.5 949 7.4 733 8.5 4,039 31.2 5,384 26.8 3,945 12.4

Privately purchased or 

military-related . . . . . . . . . 16,848 19.5 1,178 9.2 899 10.4 754 5.8 2,033 10.1 11,984 37.7

Public health insurance . . . 23,650 27.4 3,477 27.3 1,533 17.8 3,485 27.0 5,469 27.2 9,686 30.5

No health insurance . . . . . . 12,444 14.4 1,499 11.8 2,704 31.4 4,147 32.1 3,855 19.2 239 0.8

Male

 Employed . . . . . . . . . 74,471 100.0 1,621 100.0 9,063 100.0 31,490 100.0 28,688 100.0 3,608 100.0

Current employer . . . . . . . . 38,483 51.7 91 5.6 2,554 28.2 17,661 56.1 17,228 60.1 949 26.3

Previous employer . . . . . . . 1,835 2.5 2 0.1 63 0.7 432 1.4 929 3.2 410 11.3

Somebody else’s employer 

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . . 7,113 9.6 122 7.6 251 2.8 2,755 8.8 3,654 12.7 330 9.1

Privately purchased or 

military-related . . . . . . . . . 5,961 8.0 171 10.6 813 9.0 1,818 5.8 1,959 6.8 1,200 33.3

Public health insurance . . . 2,777 3.7 202 12.4 385 4.2 974 3.1 564 2.0 653 18.1

No health insurance . . . . . . 15,195 20.4 179 11.1 3,201 35.3 7,595 24.1 4,171 14.5 49 1.4

 Unemployed . . . . . . . 8,241 100.0 514 100.0 1,666 100.0 3,312 100.0 2,575 100.0 175 100.0

Previous employer . . . . . . . 884 10.7 20 3.9 70 4.2 331 10.0 431 16.8 32 18.4

Somebody else’s employer 

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . . 875 10.6 2 0.4 22 1.3 334 10.1 491 19.1 26 14.7

Privately purchased or 

military-related . . . . . . . . . 582 7.1 29 5.7 123 7.4 195 5.9 159 6.2 76 43.2

Public health insurance . . . 889 10.8 140 27.2 205 12.3 299 9.0 204 7.9 41 23.7

No health insurance . . . . . . 4,463 54.2 90 17.5 974 58.5 2,134 64.4 1,265 49.1 – –

 Not in labor force . . . 34,427 100.0 6,500 100.0 3,945 100.0 3,352 100.0 7,698 100.0 12,933 100.0

Previous employer . . . . . . . 5,759 16.7 120 1.8 157 4.0 213 6.4 1,832 23.8 3,436 26.6

Somebody else’s employer 

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . . 2,839 8.2 509 7.8 229 5.8 246 7.3 1,014 13.2 841 6.5

Privately purchased or 

military-related . . . . . . . . . 7,095 20.6 640 9.8 443 11.2 332 9.9 919 11.9 4,762 36.8

Public health insurance . . . 9,581 27.8 1,757 27.0 522 13.2 1,139 34.0 2,408 31.3 3,755 29.0

No health insurance . . . . . . 5,099 14.8 773 11.9 1,338 33.9 1,380 41.2 1,497 19.4 112 0.9

See notes at end of table.
10 U.S. Census Bureau

were less likely to have their entire 

health insurance premium paid for 

by their employer than employees 

in firms with less than 100 workers. In particular, 17.7 percent 

of employees with employerprovided health insurance who 

were employed in firms with 1,000 

or more workers had their entire 

premium paid by their employer. In 

comparison, 34.8 percent of workers employed by firms with fewer 

than 25 workers reported having 

their entire premium paid by their 

employer.

Firm size was not related to 

whether health insurance coverage 

was provided through a Health 

Maintenance Organization among 

firms with 100 or more workers. A 

comparable proportion of employees across these firm size categories were covered through a Health 

Maintenance Organization (about 

33.5 percent). Firms employing 25 

to 99 workers had a slightly higher 

rate of coverage than larger firms 

at 35.6 percent.

The percentage of part-time workers reporting health insurance coverage through their employer varied across firm size.14 Of part-time 

14 Part-time workers are defined as working fewer than 35 hours in the last week of 

the reference period. 

workers in firms employing fewer 

than 25 people, 6.6 percent were 

covered by employer health insurance. Among part-time workers 

in firms employing 25–99 workers, 13.6 percent were covered 

by employer health insurance. By 

comparison, 16.9 percent of parttime workers in firms employing 

100 to 499 people, 20.3 percent of 

part-time workers in firms employing 500 to 999 workers, and 20.4 

percent of part-time workers in 

firms employing 1,000 or more 

workers were covered by employer 

health insurance.

Table 6.

Health Insurance Coverage Type by Age, Sex, and Labor Force Status: 2010—Con.

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

15 years 

and over 15–18 years 19–25 years 26–44 years 45–64 years 65 years 

and over

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

Female

 Employed . . . . . . . . . . 66,187 100 .0 1,644 100 .0 8,530 100 .0 26,532 100 .0 26,718 100 .0 2,763 100 .0

Current employer . . . . . . . . . 31,348 47 .4 58 3 .5 2,360 27 .7 13,491 50 .8 14,677 54 .9 762 27 .6

Previous employer . . . . . . . 

Somebody else’s employer 

 . 809 1 .2 – – 3 – 159 0 .6 461 1 .7 187 6 .8

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . .

Privately purchased or 

 . 12,948 19 .6 105 6 .4 539 6 .3 5,688 21 .4 6,223 23 .3 393 14 .2

military-related . . . . . . . . . . 3,975 6 .0 144 8 .8 725 8 .5 813 3 .1 1,439 5 .4 853 30 .9

Public health insurance . . . . 3,951 6 .0 291 17 .7 780 9 .1 1,676 6 .3 677 2 .5 528 19 .1

No health insurance . . . . . . . 10,080 15 .2 179 10 .9 2,245 26 .3 4,518 17 .0 3,115 11 .7 24 0 .9

 Unemployed . . . . . . . . 6,581 100 .0 429 100 .0 1,236 100 .0 2,660 100 .0 1,998 100 .0 257 100 .0

Previous employer . . . . . . . 

Somebody else’s employer 

 . 559 8 .5 2 0 .4 55 4 .5 157 5 .9 316 15 .8 29 11 .1

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . .

Privately purchased or 

 . 1,264 19 .2 19 4 .5 69 5 .5 607 22 .8 532 26 .6 37 14 .3

military-related . . . . . . . . . . 474 7 .2 36 8 .4 77 6 .2 117 4 .4 126 6 .3 118 45 .7

Public health insurance . . . . 1,469 22 .3 152 35 .4 322 26 .1 702 26 .4 224 11 .2 69 26 .6

No health insurance . . . . . . . 2,382 36 .2 49 11 .4 466 37 .7 1,064 40 .0 797 39 .9 6 2 .3

 Not in labor force . . . . 51,774 100 .0 6,252 100 .0 4,669 100 .0 9,572 100 .0 12,419 100 .0 18,862 100 .0

Previous employer . . . . . . . 

Somebody else’s employer 

 . 4,311 8 .3 127 2 .0 175 3 .7 133 1 .4 1,440 11 .6 2,435 12 .9

(dependent) . . . . . . . . . . .

Privately purchased or 

 . 12,211 23 .6 440 7 .0 504 10 .8 3,793 39 .6 4,370 35 .2 3,105 16 .5

military-related . . . . . . . . . . 9,753 18 .8 539 8 .6 457 9 .8 422 4 .4 1,114 9 .0 7,222 38 .3

Public health insurance . . . . 14,069 27 .2 1,719 27 .5 1,012 21 .7 2,346 24 .5 3,061 24 .7 5,931 31 .4

No health insurance . . . . . . . 7,345 14 .2 726 11 .6 1,366 29 .2 2,768 28 .9 2,359 19 .0 127 0 .7

– Represents or rounds to zero .

Source: U S Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010 For information on confidentiality protection, . . .

sampling, and nonsampling error see <www census gov/sipp/source html> . . . .
U.S. Census Bureau 11 Table 7. Characteristics of Health Insurance for Workers by Firm Size: 2010 (Numbers in thousands) Characteristic All firms Employees 0–24 25–99 100–499 500–999 1000+ Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent All employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,659 100 .0 26,363 100 .0 15,107 100 .0 15,953 100 .0 7,816 100 .0 59,508 100 .0 Employer does not offer health insurance . . . . . . . . . . 40,582 28 .9 14,413 54 .7 3,757 24 .9 2,481 15 .6 941 12 .0 6,646 11 .2 Employer offers health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Covered by own employer health insurance 100,077 71 .1 11,949 45 .3 11,350 75 .1 13,473 84 .4 6,875 88 .0 52,862 88 .8 (percentage of all employed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,831 49 .6 7,335 27 .8 7,836 51 .9 9,499 59 .5 4,889 62 .6 37,852 63 .6 Covered by own employer health insurance . . . . . . . . . . 69,831 100 .0 7,335 100 .0 7,836 100 .0 9,499 100 .0 4,889 100 .0 37,852 100 .0 100 percent of premium paid by employer . . . . . . . . . . 15,974 22 .9 2,550 34 .8 2,196 28 .0 2,063 21 .7 1,089 22 .3 6,684 17 .7 Partial premium paid by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,831 74 .2 4,507 61 .4 5,434 69 .3 7,223 76 .0 3,680 75 .3 30,107 79 .5 No premium paid by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Plan characteristics (percentage of all covered): 2,026 2 .9 278 3 .8 206 2 .6 213 2 .2 121 2 .5 1,061 2 .8 Employer offers multiple plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,374 56 .4 2,759 37 .6 3,427 43 .7 4,852 51 .1 2,669 54 .6 24,826 65 .6 Covered by HMO plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,500 33 .7 2,477 33 .8 2,793 35 .6 3,200 33 .7 1,612 33 .0 12,709 33 .6 Plan does not cover pre-existing conditions . . . . . . . . . Part-Time Workers Only 1,397 2 .0 132 1 .8 177 2 .3 166 1 .7 106 2 .2 756 2 .0 Part-time employed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,234 100 .0 7,641 100 .0 2,643 100 .0 2,219 100 .0 1,134 100 .0 10,129 100 .0 Employer does not offer health insurance . . . . . . . . . . 15,606 53 .4 5,522 72 .3 1,278 48 .3 763 34 .4 350 30 .8 2,922 28 .9 Employer offers health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Covered by own employer health insurance 13,628 46 .6 2,119 27 .7 1,365 51 .7 1,456 65 .6 785 69 .2 7,207 71 .1 (percentage of all employed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,856 13 .2 506 6 .6 359 13 .6 376 16 .9 230 20 .3 2,062 20 .4 Covered by own employer health insurance . . . . . . . . . . 3,856 100 .0 506 100 .0 359 100 .0 376 100 .0 230 100 .0 2,062 100 .0 100 percent of premium paid by employer . . . . . . . . . . 1,099 28 .5 183 36 .2 104 28 .9 67 17 .9 84 36 .3 496 24 .1 Partial premium paid by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,564 66 .5 305 60 .4 231 64 .2 288 76 .7 135 58 .8 1,463 70 .9 No premium paid by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Plan characteristics (percentage of all covered): 193 5 .0 18 3 .5 25 6 .9 20 5 .4 11 4 .9 103 5 .0 Employer offers multiple plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,974 51 .2 170 33 .5 179 49 .8 177 47 .2 132 57 .2 1,196 58 .0 Covered by HMO plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,257 32 .6 141 27 .9 105 29 .4 126 33 .6 98 42 .7 711 34 .5 Plan does not cover pre-existing conditions . . . . . . . . . 102 2 .6 13 2 .5 14 3 .8 Z Z 7 3 .1 58 2 .8 Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010 . For information on confidentiality protection, sampling, and nonsampling error see <www .census .gov/sipp/source .html> .
12 U.S. Census Bureau

Offer and Coverage Rates by 

Industry and Occupation

The number and percentage of 

employers who offered health 

insurance varied across industries, as did the likelihood that 

an employee was covered by an 

employer’s health insurance plan 

(Table 8). Workers employed in 

the public administration industry 

were most likely (93.1 percent) to 

work for employers that offered 

health insurance to any of their 

employees. At the other end of the 

spectrum, employers of workers 

in agriculture and mining offered 

insurance at the lowest levels 

(47.1 percent).

High offer rates did not necessarily 

coincide with high coverage rates 

as the offer rate reflects only the 

likelihood that a worker’s employer 

offers health insurance to any of its 

employees. For example, workers 

in the manufacturing industry had 

both higher than average offer and 

coverage rates. Specifically, 87.5 

percent of manufacturing workers were employed by firms that 

offered health insurance to any 

of their workers compared, with 

the average offer rate among all 

employees of 71.1 percent. Likewise, 81.5 percent of manufacturing workers were insured by their 

employer compared with an average coverage rate of 69.8 percent. 

In contrast, workers in the educational, health, and social services 

industry had high offer rates (85.1 

percent), but lower coverage rates 

(68.9 percent). Workers in the arts 

and recreation industry had both 

moderate offer rates (52.1 percent) 

and coverage rates (44.3 percent).

By occupation, workers in the 

management and professional 

occupation category were 

employed in firms that offered 

health insurance (89.4 percent) in 

the highest proportions. Comparatively, farm, fishing, and forestry 

workers were employed in firms 

that offered health insurance in the 

lowest proportions (32.6 percent).

As was true for industries, the 

frequency of receiving or taking 

up a health insurance offer varied 

across occupations. For example, 

management and professional 

workers were the most likely to be 

offered (89.4 percent) and covered 

(76.8 percent) by employer health 

insurance. In contrast, service occupations had only moderate offer 

(61.1 percent) and coverage (55.0 

percent) rates. While farm, fishing, 

and forestry workers had much 

lower than average offer rates (32.6 

percent), their rate of coverage was 

higher (65.9 percent).

Table 8.

Employment-Based Offer and Coverage Rates by Industry and Occupation: 2010

(Numbers in thousands)

Characteristic

Employed total

Offered Covered

Number Percent Number

Percentage of 

offered

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140,659 100,077 71 .1 69,831 69 .8

Industry

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,139 3,236 21 .4 2,275 70 .3

Agriculture and mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,190 1,032 47 .1 785 76 .1

Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,523 3,879 59 .5 2,792 72 .0

Manufacturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,468 11,783 87 .5 9,604 81 .5

Wholesale and retail trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,558 13,571 77 .3 8,195 60 .4

Transportation, communication, public utilities . . . . . . 8,909 7,521 84 .4 5,864 78 .0

Finance, insurance, and real estate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,391 15,858 77 .8 11,450 72 .2

Education, health, and social services . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,896 26,286 85 .1 18,111 68 .9

Arts and recreation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,776 6,140 52 .1 2,721 44 .3

Other services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,295 2,850 53 .8 1,893 66 .4

Public administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,512 7,923 93 .1 6,141 77 .5

Occupation

Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,139 3,236 21 .4 2,275 70 .3

Management and professional . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,099 39,431 89 .4 30,284 76 .8

Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,800 14,551 61 .1 7,998 55 .0

Sales and office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,157 24,181 77 .6 15,655 64 .7

Farming, fishing, and forestry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,461 476 32 .6 314 65 .9

Construction, extraction, maintenance, and repair . . . 9,949 6,680 67 .1 5,009 75 .0

Production and transportation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,053 11,521 76 .5 8,295 72 .0

Source: U S Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010 For more information on confidentiality protection, . . .

sampling, and nonsampling errors see <www census gov/sipp/source html> . . . .
U.S. Census Bureau 13

Workers Without EmployerProvided Health Insurance

Individuals working for employers who offer health insurance 

have a variety of reasons for not 

participating in their employer’s 

plan. Some workers choose not to 

be covered and some workers are 

not eligible for coverage, usually 

because they are not permanent, 

full-time workers or they are still in 

a probationary period. Of nonparticipating workers, 32.2 percent 

were not eligible to participate in 

their employer’s health insurance 

plan (Table 9). Another 16.3 percent of workers were not insured 

by their employer’s health plan for 

other, unknown reasons. About 1.1 

percent of nonparticipants were not 

insured by their employer because 

they were denied coverage. Reasons for denial of coverage include 

age or a preexisting condition. The 

remaining half (50.4 percent) of 

workers chose not to enroll in their 

employer’s plan.

The reasons for nonparticipation in 

an employer’s plan varied by age, 

sex, and race and Hispanic origin. 

A larger proportion of workers 

aged 45 to 64 (57.5 percent) than 

workers aged 19 to 25 (35.5 percent) reported choice as the most 

likely reason for not being covered 

by their employer. Workers aged 19 

to 25 reported ineligibility for coverage in higher proportions than 

workers aged 26 to 44 or aged 45 

to 64. About 52.7 percent of workers aged 19 to 25 were ineligible 

for coverage compared with 25.1 

percent of workers aged 26 to 44 

and 23.0 percent of workers aged 

45 to 64.

Among non-Hispanic Black workers, 36.4 percent reported ineligibility as a reason for nonparticipation, compared with 32.5 percent 

of non-Hispanic Whites and 28.1 

percent of Hispanics. Hispanic 

workers were more likely (52.3 

percent) not to purchase employer 

insurance coverage by choice 

than non-Hispanic White workers 

(50.4 percent) and non-Hispanic 

Black workers (47.4 percent). 

When compared by age, 26 to 44 

year old non-Hispanic Whites were 

more likely than non-Hispanic 

Blacks to choose not to purchase 

health insurance. In addition, 45 

to 64 year old non-Hispanic Whites 

were more likely than Hispanics to 

choose not to participate in their 

employer’s health insurance plan.

There are many reasons why 

eligible workers chose to forego 

health insurance coverage that was 

offered by their current employer. 

For example, many had other 

sources of insurance (66.4 percent) or cited cost as the reason 

(27.4 percent) for not purchasing 

health insurance through their 

own employer (Table 10).15 Women 

were more likely than men to have 

another source of health insurance, 

71.1 percent and 60.2 percent 

respectively. An estimated 25.1 

percent of women also cited cost 

as the reason for nonparticipation, 

compared with 30.4 percent 

for men. 

The proportion of employees 

without health insurance coverage 

was negatively associated with 

education, regardless of whether or 

not the worker’s employer offered 

health insurance (Table 11). Of 

individuals who worked for an 

employer that did not offer health 

insurance, those with a college 

degree or higher were less likely 

(30.6 percent) to be uninsured 

than high school graduates (44.1 

15 The reasons for nonparticipation by 

choice in an employer’s health insurance benefit plan were collected through a “mark-all” 

question. Therefore, there is overlap in the 

categories listed and percent totals in Table 

10 do not sum to 100 percent.

percent) or those with less than a 

high school diploma (62.3 percent). 

Similarly, among workers whose 

employer offered health insurance 

benefits to any of its employees, a 

smaller proportion of workers with 

a college degree or higher (18.5 

percent) were uninsured than high 

school graduates (33.3 percent) 

or workers with less than a high 

school diploma (43.6 percent).

For workers who did not have 

health insurance through their 

current employer but who were 

insured, the most prevalent source 

of health insurance was someone 

else’s employment-based plan. 

Regardless of whether an employer 

offered health insurance coverage to any of their employees, the 

proportion of employees covered 

as a dependent increased with educational attainment. For example, 

among individuals working for 

employers who did not offer health 

insurance coverage, 6.7 percent of 

people with less than a high school 

diploma, 17.6 percent of high 

school graduates, and 29.6 percent 

of people with a college degree or 

higher were covered as a dependent on another person’s coverage.

The age of the worker was also 

associated with the source of 

health insurance coverage. Workers aged 26 to 44 were less likely 

to be covered by someone else’s 

employer as a dependent than 

workers aged 45 to 64. This was 

regardless of educational attainment or employer provision of 

health insurance benefits. However, workers aged 26 to 44 were 

more likely to be covered by public 

coverage than workers aged 45 to 

64 regardless of educational attainment when their employer did not 

offer health insurance benefits. 
14 U.S. Census Bureau Table 9. Reasons for Not Participating in an Employer Health Insurance Plan by Age, Sex, and Race: 2010 (Numbers in thousands) Characteristic 15 years and over 15–18 years 19–25 years 26–44 years 45–64 years 65 years and over Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent All nonparticipants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,246 100.0 1,209 100.0 5,643 100.0 11,590 100.0 10,036 100.0 1,769 100.0 Ineligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,725 32.2 909 75.2 2,976 52.7 2,913 25.1 2,308 23.0 620 35.0 Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 1.1 – – 78 1.4 118 1.0 98 1.0 27 1.5 By choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,258 50.4 215 17.8 2,000 35.5 6,450 55.6 5,772 57.5 820 46.4 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,941 16.3 85 7.1 588 10.4 2,109 18.2 1,857 18.5 302 17.1 Male nonparticipants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,580 100.0 615 100.0 2,778 100.0 5,120 100.0 4,155 100.0 913 100.0 Ineligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,140 30.5 450 73.2 1,431 51.5 1,178 23.0 786 18.9 294 32.2 Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 1.2 – 0.1 40 1.5 38 0.7 63 1.5 16 1.8 By choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,595 48.6 94 15.2 930 33.5 2,773 54.2 2,375 57.2 423 46.3 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,687 19.8 71 11.5 375 13.5 1,131 22.1 930 22.4 180 19.7 Female nonparticipants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,666 100.0 594 100.0 2,865 100.0 6,470 100.0 5,881 100.0 856 100.0 Ineligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,586 33.5 458 77.1 1,545 53.9 1,735 26.8 1,522 25.9 325 38.0 Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163 1.0 – – 37 1.3 80 1.2 35 0.6 11 1.2 By choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,663 52.0 121 20.4 1,070 37.3 3,676 56.8 3,398 57.8 398 46.5 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,254 13.5 15 2.5 213 7.4 978 15.1 927 15.8 122 14.2 White, non-Hispanic nonparticipants . . 21,051 100.0 839 100.0 3,799 100.0 7,500 100.0 7,479 100.0 1,434 100.0 Ineligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,845 32.5 643 76.7 2,065 54.4 1,910 25.5 1,698 22.7 528 36.8 Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180 0.9 – – 43 1.1 69 0.9 47 0.6 22 1.5 By choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,600 50.4 133 15.9 1,244 32.7 4,225 56.3 4,353 58.2 645 45.0 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,425 16.3 63 7.5 447 11.8 1,295 17.3 1,380 18.5 240 16.7 Black, non-Hispanic nonparticipants . . 3,496 100.0 115 100.0 734 100.0 1,429 100.0 1,058 100.0 160 100.0 Ineligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,274 36.4 83 72.3 432 58.9 404 28.2 303 28.7 51 31.9 Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 1.3 – – 4 0.5 9 0.6 27 2.6 6 3.5 By choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,658 47.4 23 19.7 239 32.5 753 52.7 564 53.3 79 49.7 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 14.9 9 8.0 59 8.0 264 18.5 163 15.4 24 14.9 Hispanic nonparticipants . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,830 100.0 170 100.0 832 100.0 1,812 100.0 909 100.0 106 100.0 Ineligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,082 28.3 129 75.6 321 38.6 421 23.2 193 21.3 18 16.6 Denied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 1.7 – – 28 3.4 22 1.2 15 1.7 – – By choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,003 52.3 33 19.4 422 50.7 986 54.4 495 54.5 67 62.7 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 680 17.7 8 5.0 61 7.3 383 21.1 205 22.6 22 20.7 – Represents or rounds to zero. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling, and nonsampling error see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.
U.S. Census Bureau 15 Table 10. Reasons for Not Participating by Choice in an Employer Health Insurance Plan by Age and Sex: 2010 (Numbers in thousands) Characteristic 15 years and over 15–18 years 19–25 years 26–44 years 45–64 years 65 years and over Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent All nonparticipants by choice . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,258 (X) 215 (X) 2,000 (X) 6,450 (X) 5,772 (X) 820 (X) Other health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,124 66.4 151 70.5 910 45.5 3,982 61.7 4,416 76.5 664 80.9 Medical savings account . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 0.5 – – 7 0.4 24 0.4 38 0.7 – – No family coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 0.5 – – 9 0.4 41 0.6 20 0.4 – – Too costly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,178 27.4 46 21.6 861 43 2,079 32.2 1,093 18.9 98 12 Pre-existing condition not covered . . . . . . 36 0.2 – – 3 0.1 6 0.1 17 0.3 10 1.2 Too many limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212 1.4 – – 26 1.3 76 1.2 95 1.6 15 1.9 No need or want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376 2.5 16 7.5 103 5.1 144 2.2 85 1.5 28 3.4 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633 4.2 3 1.5 120 6 283 4.4 188 3.3 39 4.8 Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 434 2.8 7 3.3 120 6 160 2.5 137 2.4 11 1.3 Male nonparticipants by choice . . . . . . . . . . 6,595 (X) 94 (X) 930 (X) 2,773 (X) 2,375 (X) 423 (X) Other health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,968 60.2 84 89.3 368 39.6 1,438 51.8 1,731 72.9 347 82.2 Medical savings account . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 0.6 – – 7 0.8 10 0.3 21 0.9 – – No family coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 0.4 – – – – 16 0.6 11 0.4 – – Too costly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,006 30.4 10 10.7 389 41.8 1,077 38.8 495 20.8 34 8.2 Pre-existing condition not covered . . . . . . 20 0.3 – – – – 6 0.2 5 0.2 8 1.9 Too many limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 1.4 – – 5 0.5 38 1.4 38 1.6 12 2.8 No need or want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 3.1 1 0.8 62 6.7 88 3.2 45 1.9 6 1.4 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 4.9 2 2.6 56 6.1 150 5.4 89 3.8 27 6.5 Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 3.7 – – 88 9.5 83 3 70 2.9 7 1.6 Female nonparticipants by choice . . . . . . . . 8,663 (X) 121 (X) 1,070 (X) 3,676 (X) 3,398 (X) 398 (X) Other health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,156 71.1 68 55.9 542 50.6 2,544 69.2 2,686 79.1 316 79.5 Medical savings account . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 0.4 – – – – 14 0.4 17 0.5 – – No family coverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 0.5 – – 9 0.8 25 0.7 10 0.3 – – Too costly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,172 25.1 36 30 472 44.1 1,002 27.3 598 17.6 64 16.1 Pre-existing condition not covered . . . . . . 16 0.2 – – 3 0.3 – – 11 0.3 2 0.4 Too many limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 1.4 – – 21 1.9 39 1.1 57 1.7 4 0.9 No need or want . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 2 15 12.6 41 3.8 56 1.5 40 1.2 22 5.6 Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308 3.6 1 0.6 64 6 133 3.6 99 2.9 12 3 Unknown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 2.2 7 5.8 31 2.9 77 2.1 68 2 4 1 – Represents or rounds to zero. (X) Not applicable; choice categories are not mutually exclusive. As a result, totals do not sum to 100 percent. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling, and nonsampling error see <www.census.gov/sipp/source.html>.
16 U.S. Census Bureau Table 11. Health Insurance Status of Workers Not Participating in Their Employer’s Plan by Age and Education: 2010—Con. (Numbers in thousands) Characteristic 15 years and over 15–18 years 19–25 years 26–44 years 45–64 years 65 years and over Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent All Nonparticipants Not offered by employer........................ 40,582 100.0 1,907 100.0 7,036 100.0 15,281 100.0 13,467 100.0 2,891 1000 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,116 2.8 – – 35 0.5 230 1.5 566 4.2 286 9.9 Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . 8,205 20.2 125 6.6 376 5.3 3,081 20.2 4,223 31.4 400 13.8 Privately purchased or military-related........... 6,492 16.0 213 11.2 839 11.9 1,719 11.2 2,374 17.6 1,347 46.6 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,318 10.6 283 14.8 648 9.2 1,716 11.2 877 6.5 794 27.5 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,113 42.2 250 13.1 3,230 45.9 8,302 54.3 5,283 39.2 48 1.7 Offered by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,246 100.0 1,209 100.0 5,643 100.0 11,590 100.0 10,036 100.0 1,769 100.0 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,528 5.1 2 0.1 32 0.6 361 3.1 824 8.2 310 17.5 Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . 11,856 39.2 102 8.5 415 7.4 5,362 46.3 5,654 56.3 323 18.2 Privately purchased or military-related........... 3,445 11.4 103 8.5 699 12.4 913 7.9 1,023 10.2 706 39.9 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,410 8.0 210 17.4 516 9.2 933 8.0 363 3.6 387 21.9 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,162 27.0 108 9.0 2,216 39.3 3,811 32.9 2,003 20.0 25 1.4 Less Than High School Not offered by employer........................ 7,115 100.0 1,220 100.0 746 100.0 2,926 100.0 1,885 100.0 337 100.0 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 0.9 – – 6 0.8 17 0.6 40 2.1 – – Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . 475 6.7 80 6.6 16 2.2 123 4.2 229 12.1 26 7.7 Privately purchased or military-related........... 443 6.2 136 11.1 37 5.0 66 2.2 75 4.0 129 38.3 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979 13.8 163 13.4 114 15.2 387 13.2 165 8.7 151 44.6 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,431 62.3 168 13.7 542 72.7 2,317 79.2 1,375 73.0 28 8.4 Offered by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,497 100.0 684 100.0 242 100.0 840 100.0 592 100.0 138 100.0 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 3.4 2 0.2 – – 22 2.7 35 5.9 26 18.7 Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . 328 13.1 49 7.2 6 2.3 114 13.6 153 25.9 5 3.8 Privately purchased or military-related........... 168 6.7 65 9.5 4 1.5 16 1.9 22 3.8 62 44.5 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 16.3 130 18.9 65 26.6 101 12.0 70 11.8 43 30.8 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,088 43.6 52 7.7 145 59.8 580 69.1 307 51.7 3 2.2 High School or Some College Not offered by employer........................ 18,080 100.0 670 100.0 4,916 100.0 6,216 100.0 5,177 100.0 1,102 100.0 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 1.8 – – 17 0.3 71 1.1 162 3.1 78 7.1 Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . 3,177 17.6 43 6.4 266 5.4 1,092 17.6 1,637 31.6 139 12.6 Privately purchased or military-related........... 2,391 13.2 75 11.2 482 9.8 499 8.0 805 15.6 530 48.2 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,199 12.2 119 17.8 456 9.3 899 14.5 390 7.5 335 30.4 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,976 44.1 83 12.3 2,188 44.5 3,580 57.6 2,108 40.7 17 1.5 Offered by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,087 100.0 521 100.0 4,059 100.0 4,238 100.0 3,572 100.0 697 100.0 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465 3.6 – – 26 0.6 109 2.6 230 6.4 100 14.3 Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . 3,859 29.5 53 10.2 256 6.3 1,479 34.9 1,935 54.2 136 19.5 Privately purchased or military-related........... 1,439 11.0 36 6.9 467 11.5 334 7.9 295 8.3 307 44.0 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,195 9.1 79 15.1 342 8.4 481 11.4 149 4.2 145 20.8 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,361 33.3 56 10.7 1,626 40.1 1,777 41.9 895 25.0 7 1.1 See notes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau 17 Table 11. Health Insurance Status of Workers Not Participating in Their Employer’s Plan by Age and Education: 2010—Con. (Numbers in thousands) Characteristic 15 years and over 15–18 years 19–25 years 26–44 years 45–64 years 65 years and over Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent College Graduate Not offered by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,386 100 .0 16 100 .0 1,375 100 .0 6,139 100 .0 6,405 100 .0 1,452 100 .0 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724 4 .7 – – 12 0 .9 141 2 .3 363 5 .7 208 14 .3 Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . . 4,554 29 .6 2 13 .9 94 6 .8 1,866 30 .4 2,357 36 .8 235 16 .2 Privately purchased or military-related . . . . . . . . . . . 3,657 23 .8 2 14 .6 320 23 .3 1,154 18 .8 1,493 23 .3 687 47 .3 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,139 7 .4 – – 78 5 .7 431 7 .0 322 5 .0 309 21 .2 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,706 30 .6 – – 499 36 .3 2,404 39 .2 1,800 28 .1 3 0 .2 Offered by employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,662 100 .0 4 100 .0 1,341 100 .0 6,512 100 .0 5,871 100 .0 934 100 .0 Previous employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 979 6 .7 – – 6 0 .5 230 3 .5 559 9 .5 184 19 .7 Someone else’s employer (dependent) . . . . . . . . . . 7,669 52 .3 – – 153 11 .4 3,769 57 .9 3,565 60 .7 182 19 .5 Privately purchased or military-related . . . . . . . . . . . 1,837 12 .5 2 51 .0 229 17 .0 563 8 .6 706 12 .0 338 36 .2 Public health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807 5 .5 2 49 .0 110 8 .2 351 5 .4 144 2 .5 199 21 .3 No health insurance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,714 18 .5 – – 445 33 .2 1,453 22 .3 802 13 .7 14 1 .5 – Represents or rounds to zero . Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 2008 Panel, May–August 2010 . For information on confidentiality protection, sampling and nonsampling error see <www .census .gov/sipp/source .html> .
18 U.S. Census Bureau

SOURCE AND ACCURACY OF 

THE ESTIMATES

Source of the Data

The Survey of Program Participation (SIPP) collects information from 

the noninstitutionalized resident 

population living in the United 

States. Foreign visitors who work 

or attend school in this country and 

their families are eligible, whereas 

Armed Forces’ personnel living in 

military barracks and institutionalized persons, such as correctional 

facility inmates and nursing home 

residents, are not eligible in this 

survey. Individuals aged 15 and 

over are eligible for interview. A 

parent or a guardian gives information about people less than 15 

years of age.

This report is based on data collected in wave 6 of the 2008 panel 

of the SIPP—which included a topical module on employment-based 

health benefits along with the core 

files on health insurance, labor 

force, and employment. This report 

also incorporates data from the 

1996, 2001, and 2004 SIPP Panels. 

Since the Employer-Provided Health 

Benefits topical module records 

information for people ages 15 and 

over, the estimates in this report 

do not refer to people less than 15 

years of age.

All estimates in this report have 

been weighted to represent 

U.S. civilian noninstitutional 

population in the months the data 

was collected for each respective 

interview wave and panel. The 

information about age, sex, race 

and ethnicity, health insurance 

status, labor force status, employment status, and employer characteristics come from the SIPP core. 

Details of the employers’ health 

insurance plan, coverage status, 

coverage types, and characteristics 

come from the topical module.

Accuracy of the Estimates

Statistics from surveys are subject 

to sampling and nonsampling error. 

The magnitude of the sampling 

error can be measured by calculating the standard errors of the estimates. Since all estimates in this 

report are proportion estimates, we 

can calculate the standard error by 

using the formula for the standard 

errors of the sample proportions. 

However, we cannot measure the 

nonsampling error. Therefore, caution should be used when comparing data in different reports.

Nonsampling errors can come from 

several sources, such as inability to 

obtain all information, definitional 

difficulties and differences in the 

interpretation of the questions, 

and the inability or unwillingness 

of respondents to provide correct 

information. Additionally, inability 

or error in collecting, coding, and 

processing data and confusion of 

the reference periods also cause 

nonsampling errors.

In the SIPP, reference periods for 

variables vary. Most variables in 

the core refer to the last 4 months, 

while some variables in the core 

and topical module refer to a 

particular month or week or an 

entire year. Thus, combining different SIPP files might cause additional nonsampling error because 

different variables have different 

reference periods. Therefore, use 

caution when comparing this 

report with other reports. Detailed 

discussions of the existence and 

control of nonsampling errors in 

the SIPP can be found in the SIPP 

Quality Profile report.

All statements in this report have 

undergone statistical testing, and 

all comparisons are significant at 

the 90 percent confidence level. 

Further information on the source 

and accuracy of estimates is at 

<www.census.gov/sipp 

/source.html>. For more information about the SIPP, see 

<www.census.gov/sipp/>. To 

view the SIPP Quality profile, go to 

<www.census.gov/sipp 

/workpapr/wp230.pdf>.

Contact Mahdi S. Sundukchi of 

the Census Bureau’s Demographic 

Statistical Methods Division at 

<mahdi.s.sundukchi@census 

.gov> or Ashley M. Westra of the 

Census Bureau’s Demographic 

Statistical Methods Division at 

<ashley.m.westra@census.gov> for 

further information on the source 

of the data and accuracy of the 

estimates.

Contact Hubert Janicki about the 

contents of this report at: 301-763-

8705, <hubert.p.janicki@census 

.gov>.

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Washington, DC 20233

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