Study shows 10-year decline in employer health coverage

The number of Americans covered by employer-sponsored health plans fell below 60 percent in 2011, capping a decade-long decline attributed to a lower number of jobs available and the soaring cost of coverage.

That’s according to a study released Thursday by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

In Illinois, 62 percent of employees got coverage through work in 2011, down from 74 percent in 2000. The decline was most dramatic among workers 18 and younger, where only 56 percent were covered in 2011, down from 72 percent in 2000. For workers age 26 to retirement, coverage declined to 65 percent in 2011 from 78 percent in 2000.

The total segment of working-age Americans nationwide covered by employee health plans declined more than 10 percentage points between 2000 and 2011 while public coverage has grown by about 3 percentage points.

While most states saw significant declines, the study found, the range of total coverage was wide. About 74 percent of workers in New Hampshire were covered in 2011, while only 48 percent of New Mexico workers were as of that year, the latest studied.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the decline in coverage was most dramatic in poorer groups. Coverage among lower-income workers fell by 10 percentage points, while coverage declined by less than 3 points among those with higher income.

A big factor in the decline was the growing cost of coverage, the study found. Single premium costs doubled to more than $5,000 in the research period while family premiums rose even faster — from about $6,400 in 2000 to more than $14,400 in 2011. The increases were almost identical in Illinois.