The percentage of the Connecticut workforce with employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI) fell more than eight percentage points between 2001 and 2012, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
In 2001-2002, approximately 78 percent of workers under age 65 in the state received health insurance through their job. In 2011-2012, that had fallen to approximately 70 percent. The difference represents a drop of 155,596 people.
Despite the decline, Connecticut still had the third highest rate of ESI coverage in the country in 2011-2012, behind New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Across the country, ESI coverage fell every year between 2000 and 2011, as Americans relied more on public insurance programs, the institute’s report said.
But past trends may not indicate the future. The institute said the national ESI rate held steady between 2011 and 2012, which it attributed to the federal Affordable Care Act, which mandates certain employers to offer insurance.
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