Many U.S. health care workers lack health care coverage
More than one in 10 U.S. health care workers lacks health insurance for themselves.
That's according to research by a team of University of Minnesota health policy researchers, led by Associate Professor Lynn Blewett.
Blewett's team examined the rates of uninsurance among U.S. health care workers by health care industry subtype and work force category, using 2004-2006 National Health Interview Survey data.
They found that overall 11 percent of the U.S. health care work force is uninsured. Furthermore, ambulatory care workers were 3.1 times as likely as hospital workers to be uninsured and residential care workers were 4.3 times as likely to be uninsured.
The findings raise concerns about safety and quality of health care in different settings, the researchers said. They add that previous research shows that uninsurance leads to delays in seeking care, fewer prevention visits, and poorer health status.
Other University of Minnesota researchers on the team were Chiu-Fang, Pamela Johnson, and Andy Ward.
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