How employers support lower-waged workers’ access to health insurance options

Summary: Health insurance costs a lot of money. For people who don't earn high wages, like service workers, it is very hard to afford.

Right now, only about half of service workers are even offered health insurance at their jobs. When they are offered it, many do not sign up because the monthly cost takes up too much of their paycheck. The average cost for a single worker is $1,440 a year. On top of that, if they get sick, they might have to pay almost $2,000 more before the insurance actually helps. Most people making under $75,000 a year do not have enough savings to pay for a $2,000 emergency.

To help fix this, some big companies are starting to charge lower monthly bills to workers who make less money. Other companies offer plans with higher costs at the doctor's office but lower monthly bills. Sadly, some businesses just decide it is cheaper to pay a fine to the government than to buy expensive health insurance for their workers.

For more details, see Health System Tracker at healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/how-employers-support-lower-waged-workers-access-to-health-insurance-options/ (opens in new tab)