AHRQ Study Finds Employer-Sponsored Health Benefits Decline in Minority-Dominated Industries

The percentage of employees with health insurance is lower in industries with large minority work forces than in those "dominated" by white workers, and the gap is widening, according to a study by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Based on 1988-1997 census data from 197 industries, the study, titled "Economic Change and Health Benefits: Structural Trends in Employer-based Health Insurance," also found that workers in industries with a high proportion of small firms are "less likely" to receive health benefits than those industries dominated by larger firms. Other findings in the study include:

• The "long term decline" in employer-sponsored health benefits is influenced by a widening coverage gap between retail and nonprofessional service industries and other types of industries.
• The likelihood of health benefits increases in industries with more full-time employees, although the "magnitude of this effect" has declined over the past 10 years.
• Low unemployment has contributed to an increase in the number of workers with coverage in industries with proportionately more part-time labor. According to researchers, this increase may be the result of employers using health benefits as an incentive to attract part-time workers.
• Union activity appears to have little impact on the level of health benefits.