More Workers Opting out of Health Plans

A new study from the Employment Benefit Research Institute finds that 55.8 percent of employees were getting health insurance directly from their employer as of April 2011, the most recent data available. That’s a nearly 5 percentage point drop from December 2007, when the economy first went into recession. Early research shows that the number probably fell further. So this is further evidence that the weak economy continues to have a harsh effect on workers’ access to health insurance — not necessarily because workers aren’t offered it but because they can’t afford it according to a report at www.msnbc.com.