With the growth of the gig economy, millions of working Americans with unpredictable schedules and fluctuating incomes rely on public health insurance because they lack consistent access to coverage through an employer, according to a new study.
The findings suggest that workers in unstable jobs could be especially vulnerable to forthcoming changes to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage, even when they work an average of more than 30 hours a week.
Researchers from Mount Sinai Hospital and the University of Michigan Medical School examined nationally representative data collected by the federal Medical Expenditure Panel Survey during 2022 and 2023. Their study, published inJAMA Network Open, included 1,621 low- and middle-income workers.
Workers whose weekly hours, annual incomes, or employment status changed substantially had much lower odds of being offered employer-sponsored health insurance, the researchers found. Compared with workers in more stable jobs, they were more likely to obtain coverage through Medicaid or an ACA marketplace plan.
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