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Health coverage of California workers most at risk of job loss due to COVID-19
Health coverage of California workers most at risk of job loss due to COVID-19
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Lucia, Laurel, author
Lee, Kevin, author
Jacobs, Ken, author
Kominski, Gerald F., author - Contributor(s):
- UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, issuing body.
University of California, Los Angeles. Center for Labor Research and Education, issuing body. - Publication:
- Berkeley, CA : Center for Labor Research and Education ; Los Angeles, CA : UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, May 2020
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- COVID-19 -- economics
Insurance Coverage -- statistics & numerical data
Medically Uninsured -- statistics & numerical data
Unemployment
California
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Many California workers are at risk of losing their job-based health coverage when they lose their jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this data brief, we examine which types of health insurance, if any, the workers most at risk of job loss had prior to this crisis. We use this analysis to inform our estimate that for every 100,000 California workers losing their jobs due to the pandemic, up to 67,000 workers, spouses, and children are at risk of losing job-based coverage. Throughout this brief, we focus on workers in the industries at highest risk of job losses due to the economic fallout related to the coronavirus pandemic and, within those industries, front-line occupations that are likely to be the first to experience job loss. Using analysis by Sarah Thomason, Annette Bernhardt, and Nari Rhee of the UC Berkeley Labor Center, the industries we include are: restaurants and bars; select retail industries; hotels and other lodging; amusement, gambling, and recreation; performing arts, sports, and museums; landscaping and building services; select other services; employment services; air transportation; and select private passenger transportation. Our analysis excludes independent contractors because they are not offered health coverage through their own jobs. The workers on which this brief focuses comprised approximately 16 percent of the California workforce in 2018. Not all workers in these industries will lose their jobs, nor will all job losses occur solely in these industries. Furthermore, the focus on these industries is not intended to be used to estimate the total number of job losses that are likely to occur. Instead, the focus on these industries allows us to make reasonable estimates about the type of health coverage workers most at risk of job loss had prior to this crisis and the distribution of their household incomes. This brief focuses on the health coverage implications for those who lose jobs, but California workers who have reductions in work hours may also lose job-based coverage if their work hours fall below the benefits eligibility threshold set by their employer. However, it is more difficult to assess the impact of hours reduction on loss of job-based coverage because of the interplay of various individual factors, such as each worker's scheduled work hours prior to the crisis, the change in work hours, and the employer's health insurance eligibility policy.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (12 pages, 1 unnumbered page))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918266094406676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918266094406676