$31 Billion in Medical Care for Uninsured Workers Paid for by Other Employers
A new study by researchers at the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports independent research on health and social issues, finds that the largest part of medical costs for uninsured workers is paid for by other employers who spend an estimated $31 billion to cover these workers through dependent coverage.
The Fund's Sara R. Collins, Ph.D., Karen Davis, Ph.D., and Alice Ho explore the characteristics of workers who do not receive coverage from their own firms; examine how health care costs are spread across workers, employers, and the government; and recommend policy options to expand and strengthen employer-sponsored coverage in A Shared Responsibility: U.S. Employers and the Provision of Health Insurance to Employees (Inquiry, Spring 2005).