Employment-Based Health Benefits : Access and Coverage, 1988-2005

This paper, which uses the February Employee Benefit and Contingent Worker Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS), examines the state of employment-based health benefits among workers with respect to the availability of health benefits in the work place. It looks at worker eligibility for health benefits (offer rates), and worker participation in health benefits (coverage rates and take-up rates). It also examines how the state of employment-based health benefits has changed, reasons why workers do not have employment-based health benefits from their own employer, and how these reasons have changed since the 1990s. This paper does not address the general lack of affordable health insurance or other issues related to the health care financing and delivery system