We’re rolling through Colorado City right now. Contrary to its name, Colorado City is an unincorporated town of just over 2,000 people.
Going back to Dr. Winters’ story, the Colorado Health Institute released a comprehensive profile of the “working uninsured” in Colorado in 2004. Given that most people get their insurance coverage from their employers, you might think that there would be stark differences in the profiles of the insured and uninsured.
What’s more striking about the numbers, however, is how similar the profiles of the insured and uninsured workers are. The percentage of uninsured workers who work full-time at least part of the year -- 78% -- is not much different than the percentage for insured workers -- 83%. The percentage of workers who only work part-time for part of the year is likewise similar -- 8.8% for the uninsured, 8% for the insured. And in terms of seniority, job security and experience in the workforce, there’s little difference -- at the time of the study, 84.2% of uninsured workers had the same employer for the previous year, and 86.9% of insured workers said the same.
So are there factors that help determine why one set of workers is likely to have health insurance while another is not?
The most striking detail is the comparison in wages. Uninsured workers are twice as likely to work in the construction and service industries, and that translates to lower wages. Uninsured workers are also far more likely to work in small companies and firms. 46% of the uninsured work at companies with 24 employees or fewer, while only 27% of the insured do the same. The results are somewhat predictable: 40% of uninsured workers have salaries below 200 percent of the poverty line, while only 12% of insured workers do. It’s a double-whammy -- your employer doesn’t offer health insurance, but you barely have the money to get by as it is, let alone keep up with the skyrocketing costs of a private insurance plan.
One other detail stands out in the study -- the uninsured are more likely to either work less than a full year, or to work part time. The most often reasons cited are “going to school” at 25%, “taking care of home” at 24.1% and “no work available” at 14.6%.
I can’t help but think of the last of these while driving through heavily rural Colorado. Citizens don’t just have a problem finding a doctor to provide them with care, they have problems finding a job that can pay them enough for health insurance -- or even finding a job at all!
Similarly, the last major category for why uninsured workers may not be able to work a full year -- being ill or disabled (9.9%) -- reminds me of Dr. Winters’ construction worker. What path does he have now to find a job that can provide his family with quality healthcare?
Dr. Thompson saw this situation in her county hospital every day, as has everyone in this van. “The population I served specifically,” she says, “many of those people did work and many of them were still unable to have health insurance. Their jobs don’t cover it, they work full-time with children, and they’re still not able to afford it.”
We’ll be back in about 45 minutes, once we reach Pueblo.
Posted by:
Timothy Foley on 8/27/2008 at 12:25:00 PM