Boomers Hit
Hardest by 'Great Recession'
From ScienceDaily.com
A new study shows what
many middle-aged Californians privately suspect: They are the first to lose
their jobs and the health benefits that come with those jobs when hard times
hit.
The analysis by the UCLA
Center for Health Policy Research looked at California data on the uninsured
between 2007 and 2009 and found that of the approximately 700,000 Californians
to lose health insurance during this time, the greatest increase was among
residents between the ages of 45 and 64.
"Whether because
mid-career workers are viewed as too expensive or because there is a deeper
bias against older workers, the data suggests the axe is first to fall on the
baby boom generation," said Shana Alex Lavarreda, lead author of the study
and the center's director of health insurance studies.
"This might open
the door for policymakers to question the fairness of hiring and firing in the
next economic cycle."
Between 2007 and 2009,
the number of people in the state without health insurance surged by more than
10 percent, to 7.1 million, the researchers found. During that same period, the
jobless rate in the state more than doubled, from 5.5 percent to 12.3 percent,
causing a steep drop in the number of people receiving health insurance through
their employer.
Using data from the
California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the study's authors examined
economic variations by county, creating a "recession index" that
takes into account increases in unemployment and decreases in household income.
They then divided the state's 58 counties into four categories that gauge the
impact of the recession: low, moderate, medium and high.
This index found at
least one silver lining in the economic clouds: The "high impact"
counties, such as Imperial, Merced and San Joaquin, saw a modest 1 percent
decline in the number of uninsured people (ages 0-64), from 22.5 percent in
2007 to 21.5 percent in 2009. This was attributed in large part to the safety
net provided by public programs such as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families.
"The safety net did
its job during the Great Recession," Lavarreda noted. "Programs such
as Medi-Cal and Healthy Families kept the problem from getting worse and
demonstrated once again the importance of public programs during economic
downturns."
Paradoxically, wealthier
counties that were less impacted by the recession, such as Marin and San
Francisco, saw a 1.7 percent increase in the number of uninsured, from 19.1 to
20.8 percent.
But the hardest hit were
the "medium impact" counties, which saw a significant 5.4 percent
increase in the number of uninsured people, from 20.8 percent in 2007 to 26.2
percent in 2009. These counties include Monterey, San Bernardino and Tulare,
among others.
These "medium"
counties were likely "not poor enough to tap into public programs yet not
wealthy enough to survive the economic storm," Lavarreda noted.
Statewide, the uninsured
population became older on average following the start of the recession, with
significant growth in the number of uninsured individuals between the ages of
45 and 64 in three of the four county groups examined.
The state's uninsured
population also grew poorer, on average. Much of the growth in the uninsured
was the result of job loss and a subsequent decline in job-based coverage.
Between 2007 and 2009, the percentage of Californians who were uninsured,
unemployed and looking for work more than doubled in all counties. For example,
in the "medium impact" group, this category grew from 6.6 percent in
2007 to 21.9 percent in 2009.
The authors say that the
Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medi-Cal expansion may help a larger number of
people than was initially anticipated. Many post-recession workers make minimum
wage, making them eligible for Medi-Cal under health care reform legislation.
Enrollment in public health insurance programs will likely grow even as jobs
return and California climbs out of recession.
The study used data from
the 2007 and 2009 California Health Interview Survey, as well data from the
California Employment Development Department.
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University of California
- Los Angeles (2013, July 31). Loss of health insurance: Boomers hit hardest by
'Great Recession'. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 2, 2013, from
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130731133917.htm
