Over the past twenty years, the percentage of uninsured Californians has risen, while the number of employers offering coverage has fallen.
A California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) report, California's Uninsured, provides a snapshot view of the state's uninsured population and pinpoints trends to watch.
Data indicate that between 1987 and 2008, the segment of non-elderly people covered by employer-provided insurance shrank by 9 percent. Although increases in Medicaid coverage partially offset this decline, more than 20 percent of Californians remain uninsured.
California has a lower percentage of people with employer-sponsored coverage and a higher number of uninsured (6.6 million) than any other state. Given the state's economic conditions and high unemployment rate, it is likely that the ranks of the uninsured will continue climbing upward.
Key findings include:
- Almost a third of uninsured Californians have family incomes of more than $50,000 per year.
- Employees, including the self-employed and those working in the public sector, are increasingly likely to be uninsured, although the trend is more pronounced in businesses with fewer than ten employees.
- About 60 percent of uninsured children are in families where the head of the household has a year-round, full-time job.
- Almost 69 percent of uninsured children are eligible for the Medi-Cal or Healthy Families programs.
- Nearly 60 percent of the state's uninsured are Latino.