title: Job-based health insurance, 1977-1998: the accidental system under scrutiny.
abstract: This paper highlights changes in employer-based health insurance from 1977 to 1998, based on national household surveys conducted by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) in 1977, 1987, and 1996; and surveys of employers by the AHCPR in 1977, by the Health Insurance Association of America in 1988, and by KPMG Peat Marwick/Kaiser Family Foundation in 1998. During the study years, in 1998 dollars, the cost of job-based insurance increased 2.6-fold, and employees' contributions for coverage increased 3.5-fold. The percentage of nonelderly Americans covered by job-based insurance plummeted from 71 percent to 64 percent. This decline occurred exclusively among non-college-educated Americans. An information-based global economy is likely to produce not only greater future wealth but also greater inequalities in income and health benefits.
authors.affiliation: American Hospital Association, Washington, D.C., USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Gabel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004522:Educational Status; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D044469:Racial Groups; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D016270:United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality