Coverage & Access | More Middle-Class Families Enrolling Children in Public Health Insurance Programs
globalEyeNews.insure the children.feature article

[March 11, 2006] It's not surprising that more and more "middle-class" families are finding refuge in publicly funded health insurance programs. With spiraling health insurance costs outpacing wages nearly four to one over the last few years, its no wonder. Every year household income levels that define the term "poverty level" climb, narrowing the middle-class envelope, as families on the brink plunge below the poverty line. Just a thought.
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Kaisernetwork.org: Daily Health Policy Report


Coverage & Access | More Middle-Class Families Enrolling Children in Public Health Insurance Programs


[Feb 15, 2005] An increasing number of middle-class families are declining employer-sponsored health coverage for their children and enrolling them in public health insurance programs, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, SCHIP is the program most affected by the trend. In fiscal year 2003, SCHIP program enrollment increased by 9%, bringing the national enrollment total to 5.8 million. The Journal reports that there is no one national figure that illustrates families' forgoing employer-sponsored coverage and their "increasing reliance" on public insurance programs. However, a December 2004 study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that the proportion of U.S. workers with employer-sponsored health insurance fell from 74.4% in 2000 to 71.5% in 2003. In addition, over the last four years, the percentage of children covered through a parent's employer fell from 62.3% to 58.3% and at the same time, the percentage of children enrolled in a public insurance program grew from 20.9% to 26.4%. Many SCHIP beneficiaries could be covered through a parent's employer-sponsored health plan, the Journal reports. For instance.....



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