This report provides a detailed account of how employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage changed between 2001 and 2005, particularly among employees (i.e., workers who are not self-employed). The report begins with a short description of the major forces driving employer-sponsored insurance: changes in the workforce and the rising costs of health insurance over the four year period. Next, the report examines the decline in ESI among employees and the reasons determining whether or not an employee has ESI, specifically:

• whether the employer sponsors health benefits,
• if the employee is eligible for the benefits,
• whether the employee chooses to participate in the health insurance offering, and
• whether the employee participates in other ESI available through another family member’s job.

This report also identifies which groups were hardest hit by the decline in job-based coverage and how the reasons for the decline in ESI varied across different groups of employees.

You may also read an issue brief related to this report and view a policy briefing about this topic by clicking the links on the right.

 Report (.pdf)